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It is also quite uncommon for a sterilizing agent to be used on needles and syringes. This creates a high risk population for the spread of bloodborne pathogens. The drug—usually in a powder or crystal form—is dissolved in water, normally in a spoon, tin, bottle cap, the bottom of a soda can, or another metal container.
- Our patients required significant assistance from health coaches and case managers to successfully navigate the often complex health care system.
- Cellulitis causes redness and pain to advance up the affected limb.Group A streptococcal bacteria causes most cases of cellulitis in the general population.
- There are so many different types of needle drugs, so it’s impossible to name all of the withdrawal symptoms.
- Regarding route of administration, much injection drug use, but not all, is intravenous injection, whereas some is subcutaneous injection or intramuscular injection .
- Recruitment of participants and data collection was carried out at an established SSP in NYC, which offered a comprehensive array of services.
Framed within Earnshaw and Chaudoir’s three stigma mechanisms , we aimed to qualitatively assess PWIDs experiences with drug use stigma in healthcare and harm reduction settings. Necrotising fasciitis is a progressive, rapidly spreading infection of the deep fascia, fat and muscle with resultant secondary necrosis of subcutaneous soft tissues and carries a significant mortality rate . Although it is relatively rare, prevalence is higher in those who are immunocompromised, such as in HIV patients, and in PWID. Gas-forming anaerobic bacteria are commonly involved in combination with aerobic gram-negative bacteria, and prompt surgical debridement and broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy is necessary . It is a life-threatening surgical emergency but can be difficult to recognise clinically in its early stages. Early imaging findings are similar to those in cellulitis but are more extensive and involve deeper structures.
Harm Reduction Methods for Intravenous Drug Use
People who inject drugs have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality from overdose, mental illness, and transmissible infections such as HIV and hepatitis C , soft tissue infections, and endocarditis . From a public health standpoint, it is imperative to consider the experiences of PWID so that systemic changes can be implemented to improve the health of this medically and socially vulnerable population. iv drug use Injection drug users have unique challenges because of additional social stigma, substantially increased risk for infectious diseases, the health consequences of injection drug use, and the addiction to the injection process itself. Needle fixation is when people become addicted not only to the drug, but also to the ritual of drawing their drug up into a needle, and the act of injecting it.
- Since 2013, there have been highly effective, all-oral, cures for hepatitis C.
- Typically, a person who injects will fall into a pattern that works to balance the need to get high, the symptoms of withdrawal, and what is financially feasible.
- Among people ages 12 years and older, the percentage who used illicit drugs in the past year increased from 17.8% (or 47.7 million people) in 2015 to 20.8% (or 57.2 million people) in 2019.
- This creates a high risk population for the spread of bloodborne pathogens.
Administration of drugs by injection poses multiple additional health risks when compared to other methods of consumption. The population prevalence of injected drug use is estimated at between 0.09 and 1.3% depending on geographic location . Multiple direct and indirect complications can occur as a result of the act of injecting itself, either locally at the injection site or elsewhere in the body. It is estimated that 17.8% of PWID are living with HIV and 52.3% are hepatitis C-antibody positive . This is of particular concern given that 52% of deaths related to drug use are the result of untreated hepatitis C leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer, and 11% are due to HIV/AIDS . Of the 32 participants, 20 (62.5%) reported positive (i.e., non-stigmatizing, comfortable, and accessible) experiences in terms of medical care at SSPs, particularly those services offered at the partner SSP where interviews took place.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Those with damaged or artificial heart valves may be at a higher risk of developing endocarditis. Endocarditis is an infection that develops in the heart’s inner lining or valves. This infection can occur when fungi and bacteria https://ecosoberhouse.com/ enter the bloodstream. Symptoms of endocarditis may develop quickly for some patients while developing more slowly for others. Untreated endocarditisis a dangerous condition and results in death without proper medical attention.
NYC has many accessible harm reduction facilities, unlike most cities in the USA . Therefore, our findings may not be generalizable to other PWID populations and treatment environments, particularly those outside of NYC and other areas that are not well-resourced. Moreover, PWID in NYC that do not use SSPs may have different experiences than the ones we report here. Lastly, we did not collect data on smoking and/or tobacco use, which is also a stigmatized behavior in healthcare settings , and may have provided another mechanism for stigma among our sample.