National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases / Centre de collaboration nationale des maladies infectieuses

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Volatile Substances Misuse: Epidemiology in North America, and Association with HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted and Bloodborne Infections

Inhalation of widely available volatile substances for their unintended psychoactive effects is gaining
prominence and is clearly a concern for public health practitioners and policy makers. But why and
how is this issue relevant for the infectious disease/communicable disease community? This 2-
part mini-series on solvent use and its association with HIV and other sexually transmitted and
bloodborne infections (HIV/STBBIs) aims to shed some light on the topic.

This paper, the first issue of the mini-series, will present some epidemiological data on the
prevalence of solvents use in Canada and the US, and evidence of an association between solvent use
and HIV/STBBIs. The second paper will explore the biological mechanisms that may be contributing to
the observed phenomena of increased susceptibility to and progression of HIV and HCV in solvent users.

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