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Tag: injection drug use

  • HIV Outbreak In Massachusetts Linked To Injection Drug Use

    HIV Outbreak In Massachusetts Linked To Injection Drug Use

    Between 2015 and 2018 there were 129 new HIV cases linked to drug use in two Massachusetts cities.

    Fentanyl use in two Massachusetts cities is driving an HIV outbreak that officials say could be forecasting a national public health crisis.

    Lawrence and Lowell Massachusetts, two cities along the New Hampshire border, have seen such a sharp spike in new HIV cases that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has become involved, according to The Huffington Post.

    Between 2015 and 2018 there were 129 new HIV cases linked to drug use diagnosed in the cities. In the four years prior to that there were only 41 new cases of HIV related to injecting drugs diagnosed annually in the entire state.

    “This tells us we cannot rest on our laurels,” said Thomas Stopka, an infectious disease epidemiologist and assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. “There are potentially other communities that are at great risk as well. HIV can and is raising its head again in places where risks align.”

    In 2015, opioid injecting was linked to an HIV outbreak in rural Indiana. The risk factors in the Massachusetts outbreak are similar, but in an urban setting. One risk is pervasive fentanyl use. Because the synthetic opioid has a shorter half life than heroin, users inject more often. This means they have more opportunity to be exposed to dirty needles.

    In addition, neither city had a needle exchange program before the outbreak, although both have since established exchanges. Finally, high rates of homelessness compound health risks, as does the fact that doctors don’t routinely screen for HIV, even among intravenous drug users.

    “This may be forecasting what could conceivably happen around the country,” said Amy Nunn, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute.

    This spring, epidemiologists from the CDC spent time in Lawrence and Lowell to try to establish why the outbreak was occurring. They presented their findings in a meeting on July 24.

    “The most striking finding was the sheer number of cases,” said Stopka “[It] was substantially higher than what was seen in years prior.”

    The number of new drug-related HIV cases “definitely caught a lot of folks’ attention and really spoke to the great need in terms of a response,” he said.

    Most of the new cases were among white men ages 20-39, men like Mark, a 29-year-old who injected drugs before finding out that he was HIV positive.

    “We all use,” Mark said. “We all know the other one has it. We don’t tell each other. People will lie right to your face about having it. It’s spreading around like wildfire.”

    Stigma around HIV — even among drug users — keeps them from disclosing their status even if they know if. In addition, the draw of a high can cause people to put their health on the back burner, Mark said.

    “People just don’t care,” he said. “When it comes down to it, if you’ve got a bag in your hand and somebody next to you’s got a dirty needle, you’re not going to run and find a clean one.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Vancouver Sees Success in Peer-Supervised Injection Sites

    Vancouver Sees Success in Peer-Supervised Injection Sites

    The chief coroner of British Columbia estimates that without the safe injection sites and without opioid antidotes, the death count would be triple what it is.

    In Vancouver, Canada, individuals who wish to use injection drugs have the option of doing so in a safe environment, supervised by their peers.

    According to NPR, downtown Vancouver is home to the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), a place that serves as a safe space for those using injection drugs. The location is equipped with various supplies like clean needles and sanitizing pads. On the wall, there is a poster highlighting the safest places on the body to inject. The site also provides treatment materials, if someone requests them.

    Hugh Lampkin, a site supervisor and vice president of VANDU, explained that the site’s injection room is an area where an attendant watches over individuals using drugs and administers overdose antidotes if necessary.

    The idea behind such sites, which are often peer-run, is harm reduction, Lampkin says. In other words, if people are going to use drugs, Lampkin and his colleagues would rather they do so in the safest manner possible to minimize the chance of overdose.

    Lampkin himself has a history of heroin use and discovered VANDU at a point when he was really struggling. VANDU hosted support groups and meetings, which Lampkin joined.

    “I was telling a bunch of strangers my life story, and it was something I’d never done before,” he told NPR. “After that just about everybody came up and either hugged me or shook my hand.”

    He says that in his experience, peer-run sites are preferred to sites run by authorities due to having fewer rules, no paperwork, and peer supervision.

    “If you put this up against another service provider where you have a PhD or a psychologist, I would put my money on a place like this.”

    According to Mark Lysyshyn, medical health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, these sites and the people that run them are helping authorities when it comes to the opioid crisis.

    “These community agencies and groups of peers and associations of drug users, they’re the ones who are making the innovations. They’re telling us what to do,” he said. “They showed us how to create pop-up supervised injection sites. They know the community, they know where to put these things. So they’ve been able to solve a lot of problems.”

    Vancouver officials say that no one has died at any of the medical or peer-run sites. Chief coroner of British Columbia, Lisa Lapointe, tells NPR  that without such sites and without opioid antidotes, her office estimates the death count would be triple what it is.

    Though injection drug use is illegal in Vancouver, NPR says, the police support the injection sites and do not make arrests. On the other hand, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the U.S. maintains that the sites host illegal activity and anyone involved with operating one could face legal consequences.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Blue Lights Deter Public Drug Use?

    Can Blue Lights Deter Public Drug Use?

    Public health experts say the blue lights make people more prone to hurting themselves and further stigmatize those who struggle with addiction.

    As the nation struggles with an ever-worsening opioid epidemic, some retailers are experimenting with an innovative solution to curb the drug use that takes place in their facilities.

    According to USA Today, a number of convenience stores and supermarkets have installed blue-colored lightbulbs in their restrooms. The strategy is simple; the blue lighting makes it all but impossible for people to see their veins, which retailers hope will prevent them from shooting up.

    “The hardest-core opiate user still wants to be accurate. They want to make sure the needle goes in the right spot,” said Read Hayes, the director of the Loss Prevention Research Council.

    The Council develops methods to deter theft and violent crime at retail stores. When it comes to drug users shooting up in the semi-privacy of public bathroom stalls, Hayes hopes to “disrupt that process” with the blue lights.

    Turkey Hill Minit Markets, a Pennsylvania chain of convenience stores with over 260 locations, partnered with the Loss Prevention Research Council to test whether the blue bulbs will do the trick in driving down drug use. While the study is just six months old, early word from its 20 test stores has been positive.

    Turkey Hill reports that employees haven’t found any used needles or people slumped over from an overdose. Matt Dorgan, Turkey Hill’s asset protection manager, knew it was time to take action in neighborhoods that have been slammed by the opioid crisis.

    “We realized we need to do something to protect our associates and our customers,” Dorgan said. “We’re not finding hardly anything anymore. It’s a pretty dramatic reduction. We haven’t had a single overdose.”

    Not everyone is convinced that blue lights are the answer, however. In previous research studies, opioid users said they’d shoot up anywhere “if it meant avoiding withdrawal symptoms,” USA Today reported.

    Public health experts also say the blue lights only make people more prone to hurting themselves, not to mention further stigmatizing those who struggle with addiction.

    Also, people who are accustomed to injecting themselves won’t be deterred by a room bathed in blue light. Someone suffering from withdrawal “is going to want to use as soon as possible, even if the location is not optimal,” said Brett Wolfson-Stofko, a researcher at the National Development & Research Institutes, who has studied injection drug use in public places.

    Other experts advocate for more practical solutions like needle disposal containers.

    Meanwhile, some areas have taken the blue-light concept to new levels, USA Today reported. The city of Philadelphia, wracked by a 30% increase in opioid overdoses last year, has started distributing “needle kits” to its residents. The kit includes “a blue bulb for the front porch, no-trespassing signs, a tool to pick up used syringes, a needle disposal box and contact information for social services.”

    The city has given out over 100 kits since January. If the kits prove successful, the program could be expanded and potentially become a solution for similarly hard-hit areas.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Serious Bacterial Infection Linked To Injection Drug Use

    Serious Bacterial Infection Linked To Injection Drug Use

    According to a new study, the number of MRSA cases in those who use injection drugs more than doubled from 2011 to 2016.

    Those who use inject illicit drugs may be at risk of more than an overdose, as new government data claims that such individuals are more susceptible to a potentially fatal infection.

    Individuals who use heroin or other injection drugs are 16 times more susceptible to develop infections or illnesses from MRSA, a dangerous bacteria. 

    MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is an infection caused by a type of staph bacteria, the Mayo Clinic reports. However, unlike other forms of staph, it does not respond well to antibiotics, making it more dangerous.

    “Drug use has crept up and now accounts for a substantial proportion of these very serious infections,” said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, according to CBS News. 

    While other studies have shown that HIV and hepatitis C have spread among injection drug users, this is the first study to focus on this type of bacteria, referred to as a “superbug,” according to CBS.

    Although MRSA can be found on people’s skin, it does not tend to become dangerous until it enters the bloodstream, CBS notes. Health officials estimate that about 11,000 deaths per year in the U.S. are due to MRSA and that while the rate of infection in hospitals and nursing homes has decreased, the rate in those using illicit drugs continues to rise.

    Dr. Isaac See of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also a study author, states that MRSA “is on the skin, and as the needle goes into the skin it brings the bacteria with it,” according to CBS.

    According to the study’s findings, the number of MRSA cases that involved those who use injection drugs more than doubled from 2011 to 2016, from 4% to 9%. 

    According to the news outlet, this study took into account MRSA infections at hospitals in Connecticut and in parts of California, Georgia, Minnesota, New York and Tennessee. Of the approximately 39,000 cases, about 2,100 were from individuals who had used injection drugs. 

    Study authors note that if the amount of people using injection drugs continues to rise as will the number of MRSA cases, this could be detrimental to efforts being made to curb the crisis.

    “Increases in nonsterile injection drug use are likely to result in increases in the occurrence of invasive MRSA infections among persons who inject drugs, underscoring the importance of public health measures to curb the opioid epidemic,” study authors wrote.

    View the original article at thefix.com