HIV infection and intravenous drug abuse: world perspective and epidemiology in Israel.

As the second largest group of persons to have been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the main source of HIV transmission to heterosexual partners in the industrialized world, intravenous drug abusers (IVDAs) play an increasingly important role in the AIDS epidemic. The situation is particularly alarming in South and East Asia where a sharp increase in HIV seropositivity rate among IVDAs has occurred over just a few years. In Israel, the impact of HIV infection on IVDAs has remained limited with a prevalence of 2%-4.2%. In most cases, infection was contracted following travel and drug injection abroad. Israel continues to be a pre-epidemic area of HIV infection.