Scientists close to identifying cause of heroin addicts' illness

Clinical scientists investigating the causes of a mysterious illness among heroin addicts in the State and in Britain believe they are "nearly there" in identifying the bacterium that contaminated the heroin.

The most likely cause is a strain of the clostridium family called clostridium novyi (type A). It causes gangrene.

A statement is expected from the Greater Glasgow Health Authority today or tomorrow.

Dr John Brazier, senior clinical scientist at the Public Health Laboratory Service's anaerobic unit in Cardiff, said yesterday his team had isolated the bacterium strain in post-mortem tissue from patients in Glasgow.

Since April 19th there have been 64 cases of an unidentified illness among injecting heroin users in Dublin, Glasgow and the north-west of England. Some 32 of these have died.

In the Republic, there have been 15 confirmed cases of the illness since May 1st, of which eight have been fatal.

Those who have died in Dublin have ranged in age from 22 to 51 years. Six of them were men.

Clostridium is an anaerobic bacterium, meaning that it flourishes in the absence of oxygen but dies in its presence. It can, however, exist in "suspended animation" as spores in soil and dust. If heroin was cut with a dust contaminated with the bacterium, it would flourish once injected into the oxygen-free environment of the body.

Clostridium Novyi (type A) is one of the rarer members of the family, said Dr Brazier. "We would not have seen it in this laboratory for a number of years."

Scientists at the Cardiff unit had been working in oxygen-free chambers to isolate the bacterium.

"Ideally we would like to get the bacterium out of samples of the heroin and isolate it. We are still getting samples of heroin from Glasgow," he said.

Once the individual bacterium strain is identified an anti-toxin may be developed.

His team is not examining post-mortem samples from any of the eight Dublin cases.