In 2012, 341 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in Ireland (crude notification rate of 7.4 per 100,000 population). The annual number of newly diagnosed HIV infections had been decreasing since 2008; however in 2012 there has been a slight increase (7%) compared with 2011. A rate of 5.7 per 100,000 population (ranging from 0.9 to 27.3) was reported in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) in 2011.

Four percent of new diagnoses were among Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) and this proportion has been declining since 2004. However, recent HIV outbreaks among IDU in Greece and Romania demonstrate how infection can spread rapidly among this population, and highlight the need to maintain preventive services (2). In 2012, 69% of IDUs newly diagnosed with HIV infection were co‐infected with Hepatitis C.

In 2012, 4% (13 cases) of the new diagnoses were among IDUs. The number of new diagnoses among IDUs has been steadily decreasing from 74 in 2004 to 13 in 2012 (a decline of 82%) Of the 13 IDU cases,
• 10 were men and 3 were women
• Median age was 34 years (range 22 to 50 years)
• 5 were born in Ireland, 3 were born in Central and Eastern Europe and 2 were born in Western Europe.
• Where CD4 count was reported, 63% of IDUs in 2012 were diagnosed late including 38% who were severely immuno‐compromised.
• 69% of IDUs newly diagnosed with HIV infection were co‐infected with Hepatitis C.
• Two IDUs (15%) were diagnosed with an AIDS defining illness at the time of their HIV diagnosis in 2012.