Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization Harm Reduction in Indonesia Indexed in Scopus

Background: Harm Reduction is a program to reduce the harm of narcotics for injecting drug users. The Harm Reduction (HR) program in Indonesia was initiated in 1999 with assistance and financial support from international donor agencies that lead to policy or program implementation. 9 components of Harm Reduction are still being implemented in Indonesia. The current study was conducted to analyze the bibliometric characteristics and trends of articles on Harm Reduction in Indonesia. Methods: This study uses VOSviewer affiliate analysis to visualize and analyze trends in the form of bibliometric maps. VOSviewer can also create publication maps, country maps, or journal maps based on shared citation networks or create keyword maps based on their networks. All data is taken from the Scopus database.Results: Articles from 1999 to 2021 in 41 journals indexed by Scopus with a total of 67 documents. Research on Harm Reduction in Indonesia in the last five years has only one significant increase, namely in 2019 with 10 article documents. This shows that international publications of research on Harm Reduction in Indonesia are not yet developed and there are not many interested people. Conclusions: There are still not many researches on Harm Reduction in Indonesia, besides that the results show that research sources on Harm Reduction in Indonesia are still widely available and accessible for further research in the future.

Prevalence of HIV and HCV among injecting drug users in three selected WHO-EMRO countries: a meta-analysis

Background HIV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections are responsible for a significant burden of mortality and morbidity, particularly in developing countries. This study sought to determine the prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C among injecting drug users in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. Methods This review conforms to the Preferred Reporting Guidelines for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science/Knowledge, SID.ir, and MAGIRAN were searched. Studies that were published from 2003 up to 2018 were considered for analysis. Studies were screened for inclusion in duplicate, and also, that data were narratively synthesized. Results We report on data from 79 articles. The total number of participants in studies that assessed the prevalence of HIV among injecting drug users included 68,926 participants, while those from studies that assessed HCV prevalence were 23,016 participants. Overall HIV and HCV prevalence among injecting drug users in the three selected countries were 9.1% (95% CI 6.9–12.0%) and 48.3% (95% CI 43.9–52.7%), respectively. Iran had the highest HIV prevalence of 11.0% among injectable drug users (95% CI 8.4–14.2%), while Afghanistan had the lowest HIV prevalence of 3.1% (95% CI 1.5–6.3%) among three selected countries. In Pakistan, the prevalence of HIV was 8.6% (95% CI 4.8–15.0%). Regarding HCV prevalence, Pakistan had the highest while Afghanistan had the lowest, 54.4% (95% CI 33.5–73.9%) and 37.3% (95% CI 35.2–39.4%), respectively. HCV prevalence in Iran was 47.7% (95% CI 43.4–52.0%). Conclusion Injecting drug users form a special cohort of persons at risk of HIV and Hepatitis C infections. The prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis noted from our findings is significantly high. Awareness of the grave risk of spreading HIV and Hepatitis C associated with sharing needles is recommended among this sub-group of drug users.

Dynamics of the HIV Epidemics among Male Injecting Drug Users Using Agent-Based Modeling

Background: Although Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) carry a disproportionate burden of HIV, little is known about the dynamics of the HIV epidemics among IDUs. Objective: This study aimed to characterize the dynamics of the HIV epidemic among IDUs and the effects of alternative HIV prevention intervention strategies using Agent-Based Modeling (ABM). Methods: ABM was constructed using key behavioral risks. The HIV/STI Surveillance study was utilized to create datasets for simulation. Different intervention scenarios were simulated and compared. Results: Lowering needle sharing level among IDUs resulted in the largest reductions in both HIV prevalence and the cumulative number of HIV infections over time in all simulated populations. The majority of the reductions occurred when needle sharing declined from the baseline level to 40% and 30%, respectively. Conclusion: ABM may well complement traditional epidemiological regression-based analysis in providing important insights into the complex dynamics of the HIV epidemics among IDUs.

Current incidence of certain clostridial infections: gas gangrene and tetanus

Clostridial myonecrosis or gas gangrene (myonecrosis) and tetanus are relatively rare nowadays, but they are still considered serious conditions associated with poor prognosis and high mortality. Life-threatening infections caused by Clostridium species have been known and studied for centuries, as they differed from other infections in terms of typical clinical manifestations, challenges of therapy and prevention. The aim of the study was to analyse the global incidence of gas gangrene and tetanus and challenges of prevention and treatment of these diseases. The review of up-to-date scientific literature demonstrated that gas gangrene continues to be a problem due to its rapid progression and challenging treatment. There are two main forms of the disease—traumatic and spontaneous. Traumatic gas gangrene is usually caused by C. perfringens, C. septicum, C. novyi (oedematiens), or C. histolyticum. Its incidence increases dramatically during wars, natural disasters, and other calamities. The literature review demonstrated that over the past 40 years there has been a rise in the frequency of spontaneous gas gangrene caused by C. septicum in people with compromised immune systems, in injecting drug users, and in women during various gynecological procedures and during normal delivery. Despite the effectiveness of the tetanus immunisation programme, the infection remains widespread in countries with insufficient vaccination coverage. The risk of tetanus in developed countries is high among elderly unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people, among injecting drug users, and vaccine refusers. The paper describes some clinical cases of gas gangrene and tetanus which demonstrate problems associated with challenging diagnosis and treatment, low awareness among primary healthcare personnel about mechanisms of anaerobic infection development, and anti-vaccination movement.