A renewed appeal has been made for heroin users to be vigilant following the announcement yesterday of three new cases of the illness which has led to eight deaths in Dublin in recent weeks.
The latest victims of the unidentified illness, believed to be caused by injecting contaminated heroin, are recovering in a Dublin hospital. They bring to 22 the number of cases confirmed in the eastern region to date.
The victims, two males and one female, reported the onset of the illness in mid-June - a month after the first infected heroin users were admitted to hospital.
This time lapse suggests that contaminated heroin may still be in circulation in the Dublin area, despite ongoing efforts by gardai to trace the potentially lethal supply.
The Eastern Regional Health Authority said the three latest victims presented for treatment soon after the onset of symptoms, which included abscesses and swelling of the site of the injection.
The authority's specialist in public health medicine, Dr Joe Barry, said: "While it is encouraging that drug users are now presenting to hospital in the early stages of their illness, the three latest cases indicate that contaminated heroin was still in circulation in mid-June and could still be in circulation now."
Dr Barry emphasised the dangers of heroin use and appealed for users to present for assessment for treatment at their nearest drug treatment centre. He said the authority is continuing its investigations to establish the cause of the outbreak of the illness.
The authority is collaborating in its investigations with colleagues in Atlanta and the UK, including Glasgow where 14 heroin addicts have died. Experts are trying to establish if there is a common link between the deaths in Ireland and Scotland, perhaps through a batch of contaminated heroin sold in both countries.