FURTHER APPEAL TO HEROIN USERS FOR VIGILANCE

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.