Abstract
Seventy percent of long-term drug users use an intravenous route for taking their drug (IDUs). The most frequent blood-borne infections are viral hepatitis B (VHB), viral hepatitis C (VHC) and HIV infection.
Nearly one third of IDUs with a five-year drug career had already experienced VHB and VHC. In the year 2008, 307 cases of hepatitis B were reported and 134 of them had a history of risk behavior and a half of them were IDUs.
The incidence of VHC has been stable in the past few years. From 981 of all reported cases of VHC, 571 (71 %) patients had a history of risk behavior and 540 (66 %) of them were IDUs.
The incidence of HIV infections in IDUs in the Czech Republic is permanently low, up to the end of the year 2008 only 8 % of all 1,189 HIV positive. IDUs are also frequently at risk of bacterial infections of skin and soft tissues.
The incidence of invasive infections such as sepsis and infectious endocarditis is increasing worldwide.