The HSE has set up a special intervention team in response to a rise in new HIV cases among homeless drug users in Dublin City.
The Irish Examiner has learned there has been nine new cases among injecting addicts in the city so far this year, compared to almost no cases in the same period last year.
The HSE said they are still investigating the scale of the increase, but had identified 13 new cases since June 2014.
While the cause of the rise is not clear, it may be linked to the injection of the former head shop drug mephedrone, and abuse of tranquillisers called benzodiazepines.
GPs and drugs workers believe this may be contributing to a chaotic lifestyle, resulting in the sharing of injecting equipment and unsafe sex, the primary routes for transmission.
Source: Cormac O'Keefe, Irish Examiner, 29/05/2015
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