Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population

© CSIRO 2018. Background Following a HIV outbreak among Aboriginal people in a culturally diverse inner-city suburb of Melbourne, a blood-borne virus (BBV) screening program was conducted to inform public health interventions to prevent transmission and facilitate timely diagnosis and linkage to car...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Peach, E., Cogger, S., Byron, K., Francis, P., O'keefe, D., Higgs, Peter, Stoove, M., Elmore, K., Dietze, P., Hellard, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: C S I R O Publishing 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66432
_version_ 1848761320510324736
author Peach, E.
Cogger, S.
Byron, K.
Francis, P.
O'keefe, D.
Higgs, Peter
Stoove, M.
Elmore, K.
Dietze, P.
Hellard, M.
author_facet Peach, E.
Cogger, S.
Byron, K.
Francis, P.
O'keefe, D.
Higgs, Peter
Stoove, M.
Elmore, K.
Dietze, P.
Hellard, M.
author_sort Peach, E.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © CSIRO 2018. Background Following a HIV outbreak among Aboriginal people in a culturally diverse inner-city suburb of Melbourne, a blood-borne virus (BBV) screening program was conducted to inform public health interventions to prevent transmission and facilitate timely diagnosis and linkage to care. Methods: In August-September 2014, community health workers recruited people who inject drugs (PWID) from a local needle and syringe program. Participants were tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), HIV and syphilis and completed a bio-behavioural questionnaire. Results: In total, 128 PWID participated in the study. Serological evidence of exposure to HCV and HBV was detected among 118 (93%) and 57 participants (45%) respectively. Five participants were HIV positive. Independent risk factors for needle sharing were Aboriginality (AOR=6.21, P < 0.001), attending health care for mental health problems (AOR=2.79, P=0.023) and inability to access drug treatment in the previous 6 months (AOR=4.34, P=0.023). Conclusions: BBV prevalence in this sample was much higher than reported in other recent Australian studies. This local population is at high risk of further BBV transmission, particularly Aboriginal PWID. Individual and service-related factors associated with risk in the context of a dynamic urban drug culture and HIV outbreak suggest an urgent need for tailored harm-reduction measures.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:29:48Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-66432
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:29:48Z
publishDate 2018
publisher C S I R O Publishing
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-664322020-10-12T07:59:08Z Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population Peach, E. Cogger, S. Byron, K. Francis, P. O'keefe, D. Higgs, Peter Stoove, M. Elmore, K. Dietze, P. Hellard, M. © CSIRO 2018. Background Following a HIV outbreak among Aboriginal people in a culturally diverse inner-city suburb of Melbourne, a blood-borne virus (BBV) screening program was conducted to inform public health interventions to prevent transmission and facilitate timely diagnosis and linkage to care. Methods: In August-September 2014, community health workers recruited people who inject drugs (PWID) from a local needle and syringe program. Participants were tested for hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), HIV and syphilis and completed a bio-behavioural questionnaire. Results: In total, 128 PWID participated in the study. Serological evidence of exposure to HCV and HBV was detected among 118 (93%) and 57 participants (45%) respectively. Five participants were HIV positive. Independent risk factors for needle sharing were Aboriginality (AOR=6.21, P < 0.001), attending health care for mental health problems (AOR=2.79, P=0.023) and inability to access drug treatment in the previous 6 months (AOR=4.34, P=0.023). Conclusions: BBV prevalence in this sample was much higher than reported in other recent Australian studies. This local population is at high risk of further BBV transmission, particularly Aboriginal PWID. Individual and service-related factors associated with risk in the context of a dynamic urban drug culture and HIV outbreak suggest an urgent need for tailored harm-reduction measures. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66432 10.1071/SH16219 C S I R O Publishing fulltext
spellingShingle Peach, E.
Cogger, S.
Byron, K.
Francis, P.
O'keefe, D.
Higgs, Peter
Stoove, M.
Elmore, K.
Dietze, P.
Hellard, M.
Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
title Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
title_full Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
title_fullStr Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
title_full_unstemmed Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
title_short Blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: Results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
title_sort blood-borne virus transmission in an urban, culturally diverse neighbourhood: results from a cross-sectional bio-behavioural survey using innovative outreach methods in a hard-to-reach population
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66432