Anthrax deaths expose addicts’ plight

After 13 deaths from infected heroin, drug counsellors slam ‘demonisation’ that stops users getting better treatment

A spate of deaths among heroin users whose drugs were contaminated with anthrax has highlighted how addicts are “demonised” and struggle to get treatment, according to experts.

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Epidemiological update: Anthrax outbreak among drug users in UK and Germany

A total of 33 cases of anthrax infection have been confirmed in Scotland since the beginning of December 2009 among heroin users, including 11 fatal cases; the latest case was reported on 12 April 2010 from the Lothian NHS board and is alive.

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Anthrax warning over illegal drugs - Galloway Scotland

Anthrax fears mean more methadone

The outbreak has already claimed ten lives in Scotland, prompting an increase in demand for drug treatment services from heroin addicts desperate to avoid potentially infected needles.

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Anthrax related heroin death in UK investigated

Health officials have confirmed a heroin user, who tested positive for anthrax, has died.

Shane Brown, 24 and from Blackpool, was taken to the town’s Victoria Hospital on 28 January and died on 1 February.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA), NHS Blackpool and police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death and the source or supply of the drugs.

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Fatal Anthrax Case in Germany Same Strain as Scottish Cases

Tests carried out at the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and Friedrich-Loeffler Institute (FLI) on the strain of anthrax isolated from a heroin user who died in Germany in mid December have shown it is indistinguishable from strains isolated from anthrax cases in Scotland. This suggests that the anthrax contamination in both countries, thought to originate in the heroin supply, could share a common source. This could suggest that the contamination of the heroin may have occurred prior to distribution of the heroin in Scotland and Germany, however it does not offer definitive proof.

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No anthrax heroin infection cases reported in Ireland

There have been no cases of the often fatal anthrax identified in heroin users in Ireland so far, the Health Protection Surveillance (HPSC) has confirmed, despite fears illicit drug trade links between Scotland; which has so far experienced an increasing number of cases, and Ireland could result in some contaminated batches finding their way onto our shores.

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Anthrax alert for heroin users in London

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and NHS London can confirm that a drug injecting heroin user has tested positive for anthrax and is being treated in a London hospital.

This is the first case of anthrax seen in an injecting drug user in England since similar cases were first seen in Scotland in December 2009. Nineteen cases have so far been confirmed in Scotland. Similarities to the cases in Scotland suggest that the heroin, or a contaminated cutting agent mixed with the heroin, is the likely source of infection.

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Cutaneous Anthrax Risk in Heroin Users - Government of South Australia

SA Health has been notified of an outbreak of cutaneous anthrax affecting IV heroin users in Scotland (14 cases) and in Germany (1 case). The outbreak started in December 2009 and an epidemiological investigation is underway. Contaminated heroin or contaminated cutting agent is implicated although a trace-back is likely to prove very difficult. Eight of the cases have died which is an unusually high case fatality rate for cutaneous anthrax.

The risk of cases emerging in IV drug users is likely to be low in SA, given that the outbreak is geographically localised and that sources of heroin are likely to be different for SA than for Europe. Nevertheless, given that people travel between SA and Europe (and particularly UK), it may be worth being alert to unusual skin lesions presenting in patients/clients who inject, particularly if they report recent travel to Europe.

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Anthrax-Tainted Heroin Takes Toll in Europe, Prompts Calls for Emergency Public Health Response

European heroin users are on high alert as the death toll rises from heroin tainted with anthrax. At least eight people have died — seven in Scotland and one in Germany — since early December, and another 14 Scottish heroin users have been hospitalized after being diagnosed with anthrax. Meanwhile, drug reform and drug user activists are reporting a cluster of nine suspicious heroin-related deaths in Coimbra, Portugal, although it is unclear at this point whether they are linked to anthrax-tainted heroin. The Scottish government has responded by urging heroin users to stop using and to seek drug treatment. That advice has not gone over well with drug users and public health and harm reduction advocates, who are demanding an emergency public health response.

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