New epidemic of hepatitis C, HIV, and other infections within the opioid abuse epidemic

Within opioid abuse epidemic, infectious disease epidemic emerges
Will Boggs MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There is a new epidemic of hepatitis C, HIV, and other infections within the opioid abuse epidemic, according to participants in a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine workshop.

There is an urgent need for actions to address this combined threat, they write in Annals of Internal Medicine,

“Opioid use disorder is like any other medical disorder, and through simple screening and starting medication treatment with the FDA-approved medications to prevent relapse to opioid use and decrease opioid craving, people can reduce acquiring infections,” Dr. Sandra A. Springer from Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut told Reuters Health by email. “For those who do have associated infections at the time of screening, then starting treatment for their opioid use disorder can help them recover from their infectious diseases as well. Two for the price of one.”
Continue reading: https://in.reuters.com/article/us-health-opioids-infections/within-opioid-abuse-epidemic-infectious-disease-epidemic-emerges-idINKBN1K32WM

Published: Ann Intern Med. 2018.
DOI: 10.7326/M18-1203
Integrating Treatment at the Intersection of Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Epidemics in Medical Settings: A Call for Action After a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Workshop 

Sandra A. Springer, MD; P. Todd Korthuis, MD, MPH; Carlos del Rio, MD 

As a result of the opioid use disorder (OUD) epidemic (1), new epidemics of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV infection have arisen and hospitalizations for bacteremia, endocarditis, skin and soft tissue infections, and osteomyelitis have increased (2–4). Optimal treatment of these conditions is often impeded by untreated OUD resulting in long hospital stays, frequent readmissions due to lack of adherence to antibiotic regimens or reinfection, substantial morbidity, and a heavy financial toll on the health care system. Medical settings that manage such infections offer a potential means of engaging people in treatment of OUD; however, few providers and hospitals treating such infections have the needed resources and capabilities (5). There is thus an urgent need to implement and scale up effective OUD treatment in health care settings to address the intersecting epidemics of OUD and its infectious disease (ID) consequences (6). The American College of Physicians (7), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (8), and the National Institutes of Health (9) have issued calls for action. Providers who treat the infectious complications of OUD, including ID physicians, hospitalists, emergency medicine physicians, intensivists, surgeons, obstetrician-gynecologists, pediatricians, nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician assistants are at the forefront of these epidemics and are well-positioned to integrate OUD treatment in the context of ID management.