Opioid Epidemic Fuels Rate of Certain Infectious Diseases

Opioid use disorder(OUD) patients who were initially prescribed with oral drugs to treat pain, are now injecting them. High-risk injections could surge a few infectious diseases.

Opioid epidemic, the emerging public health crisis in the United States, enhances rates of few infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, heart infections, and skin and soft tissue infections and health professionals of infectious disease and substance use disorder should work together to decrease the burden, according to a new commentary in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

The article was co-authored by officials from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.//

‘Infectious disease health professionals should address opioid epidemic by giving appropriate treatment for drug use-associated infection and also for their underlying opioid use disorder.’
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Since 1999, nearly 400,000 people in the United States have fatally overdosed on opioid-containing drugs, with 47,600 deaths in 2017 alone. Many people with opioid use disorder (OUD), who initially were prescribed oral drugs to treat pain, now inject prescribed or illegal opioids. High-risk injection practices such as needle-sharing are causing a surge in infectious diseases. Additionally, risky sexual behaviors associated with injection drug use have contributed to the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

Infectious disease professionals can play an important role in addressing the problem by not only treating a patient's injection drug use-associated infection but also connecting the patient for treatment of their underlying OUD, the authors write.

For example, coupling opioid agonist therapy, such as methadone, with treatment for HIV or hepatitis C, can prevent further transmission of those viruses and reduce opioid use. Comprehensive treatment will result in improved outcomes for both the infectious disease and the underlying OUD, according to the authors.

Prescription Drug Abuse
Prescription drug abuse is consuming prescription medications in a way different from that as prescribed by the doctor. It is becoming a colossal health problem which can lead to addiction and even death.

Conversely, substance use disorder health providers should screen their patients for unrecognized infectious diseases and consult with their infectious disease colleagues regarding a comprehensive treatment plan. Substance use disorder professionals also should be aware of and direct patients to needle and syringe programs, which can decrease injection risks and provide an opportunity to provide other services as well.

New federal resources made available to address the growing opioid epidemic can assist health professionals in improving and implementing coordinated, evidence-based strategies to prevent and treat OUD and opioid-associated infections. These efforts will be key to stemming and ultimately ending the intertwined problem of OUD and infectious disease, according to the commentary.

Source-Eurekalert