Both conditions require prompt medical treatment and can become life-threatening if not adequately treated. Infections near injection sites can become severe and cause necrotizing fasciitis, also known as a “flesh-eating disease,” or cellulitis. In particular, Heroin users suffer from vein damage due to the amount of injections users typically administer.
- When the body’s nerves are targeted, it can cause difficulty breathing and general muscle weakness.
- Prostitutes have shown a willingness to use condoms with clients, although they report safer sexual practices less often in the context of personal relationships.
- The incidence is higher in younger patients, and in terms of location, proximal vein involvement is more likely, with an even greater risk in those who inject drugs directly into the femoral vein, supporting venous injury as an important trigger for the development of DVT [6,9].
- Women who are financially dependent on men or who exchange sex for money or other necessities of life may face the dilemma of choosing between economic survival and unsafe sex (Worth, 1988).
- Other examples include ketamine and flunitrazepam or Rohypnol — a brand used outside the U.S. — also called roofie.
- The high HIV incidence among PWID in many developing countries can be controlledby key harm reduction and treatment interventions such as needle and syringe programs,medication-assisted therapy (MAT), HIV counseling and testing, and antiretroviral therapy35.
Bacterial infection
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 [6]. Intravenous drug use has become a major public health problem, the prevalence of which has increased significantly in the last decade. There are approximately 15.6 million people who inject drugs (PWID) worldwide and this may be an underestimate of the real problem as the use of injection drugs is an illegal and stigmatized practice, making data collection challenging [1,2]. The problem of HIV infection among iv drug users and its transmission to their sexual partners and offspring requires both immediate action and long-term research. Immediate action is necessary because of the potential for the rapid spread of HIV among IV drug users within short periods.
Intravenous therapy
The solutions contain no bacteriostat, antimicrobial agent or added buffer (except for pH adjustment) and each is intended only as a single-dose injection. If you have chronic health issues, it’s best to speak with a healthcare provider before trying electrolyte products of any kind. “It will be helpful to bring the label [of the drink you want to try] as they all have a variety of elements, even within the same company,” Rios said. It does not replace clinical judgment and individualized, patient-centered decision-making.
Toward Better Quality Data
Data from samples recruited through drug treatment programs, such as the Treatment Outcome Prospective Study or TOPS (see foonote 19 in this chapter), find that the bulk of the active drug-using population consists of young men (Ginzburg, 1984). Women constitute a proportionately smaller group, although over the last decade the problem of drug addiction among women “is one of large and growing proportions” (Cuskey and Wathey, 1982). Nevertheless, women are often omitted or seen as peripheral in ethnographic accounts of the heroin world, and studies of female IV drug users are rare (Rosenbaum, 1979a). The links among IV drug use, heterosexual transmission, and perinatal infection may bring further attention to women who are at risk of AIDS through IV drug-related behavior. A review of the 1,819 women who were diagnosed as having AIDS between 1981 and 1986 (Guinan and Hardy, 1987) found that the majority of these women reported IV drug use.
- Much of the data on HIV infection in this group has been collected from small samples of convenience recruited from methadone maintenance programs, drug-free treatment programs, detoxification programs, prisons, and the street.
- These users may or may not be identified on the street as addicts, depending on their means of obtaining the drug and the stage of their drug-use careers.
- Five guiding principles should broadly inform implementation across guideline recommendations to improve patient care and safety.
- The association of DVT development in IV drug abusers is mainly because of the interplay between two independent factors working together.
- The neck of the pseudoaneurysm communicating with the adjacent artery should be identified on ultrasound.
Training GuideGetting Off Right: A Safety Manual for Injection Drug Users
The 2022 Clinical Practice Guideline
