Open access. HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV) are preventable serious blood-borne infections. Early detection and accessible and user-friendly treatments improve prognosis, cure (for HCV), and prevent further transmission. 30 years of previous studies in a range of population samples have suggested that severe mental illness is a risk factor for contracting blood-borne viruses (BBVs).1 In The Lancet Psychiatry, Clarissa Bauer-Staeb and colleagues2 confirm the elevated risk for BBVs experienced by individuals with severe mental illness in a Swedish population.