Blood-borne viruses are viruses that some people carry in their blood and can be spread from one person to another. Those infected with a blood-borne virus may show little or no symptoms of serious disease, but other infected people may be severely ill. Our research focuses on reducing the transmission of blood-borne viruses among people who inject drugs. People who inject drugs are at high risk of contracting blood-borne viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis C due to sharing dirty needles.
Much of our work involves modelling the impact of different interventions to reduce the transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C among this population group, and assessing the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. Our work has informed HIV and Hepatitis C elimination strategies in the UK and other countries, international treatment guidelines and the World Health Organization‘s elimination strategies.
Research examples
Driving the use of low dead space injecting equipment among people who inject drugs