Heating Injection Drug Preparation Equipment Used for Opioid Injection May Reduce HIV Transmission Associated With Sharing Equipment

Association of Illicit Fentanyl Use with Injection Risk Practices Among People who Inject Drugs

We investigated the association between fentanyl injection frequency and sharing of injection equipment among people who inject drugs. We surveyed 249 people who inject drugs in Toronto in 2019. We estimated predicted probabilities of associations between fentanyl injection frequency and injection risk practices. In prior 6 months, 117 (47.0%) of participants injected fentanyl daily, 49 (19.7%) less than daily, and 78 (31.3%) did not inject fentanyl. Participants who injected fentanyl daily shared syringes more often than those not injecting fentanyl (25.0% vs. 4.9%; χ² = 11.54, p = 0.0007). Participants who injected fentanyl daily (42.4% vs. 11.3%; χ² = 18.05, p < 0.0001) and less than daily (37.2% vs. 11.3%; χ² = 5.88 p = 0.02) shared cookers more often than those not injecting fentanyl. Participants who injected fentanyl daily (30.2% vs. 9.7%; χ² = 9.05, p = 0.003) and less than daily (30.3% vs. 9.7%; χ² = 4.11, p = 0.04) shared filters more often than those not injecting fentanyl. No differences in probabilities of sharing equipment were detected between participants who injected fentanyl daily and less than daily. People using fentanyl reported injection practices that increased risk for infectious disease transmission.

Harm Reduction in Health Care Settings

Harm reduction is an approach to reduce the risk of harms to an individual using substances without requiring abstinence. This review discusses substance-specific interventions for opioids, alcohol, and stimulants that can minimize harms for individuals who use these substances. Topics discussed include overdose prevention, infection prevention, and low-barrier substance use disorder treatment.

"I feel safe here": Participants identify key components of syringe access programs

Syringe access programs (SAPs) provide an array of supplies and services to people who inject drugs (PWID). Governmental reports within the United States have often neglected to include the voices of people who utilize SAPs. This project, which was part of a master's of public health practicum, surveyed 28 injection drug users about their experiences with an SAP in a major Midwestern city. Through this work, participants prioritized the supplies they most frequently need and the services they most often utilize. The results of this study may provide guidance to emerging SAPs that are working to prioritize supplies and services.

Injection Drug Use and Healthcare Utilization in Patients Newly Diagnosed With HIV

OBJECTIVES

To determine recent trends in: (1) human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses, (2) the proportion of patients newly diagnosed with HIV with injection drug use (IDU) and (3) patients' patterns of healthcare utilization in the year before diagnosis at an urban, academic medical center.

METHODS

We performed a cross sectional study of patients newly diagnosed with HIV at a healthcare system in southern New Jersey between January 1st, 2014 and December 31st, 2019. Patients 18 years or older with HIV diagnosed during the study period were included. Demographics, comorbidities, HIV test results, and healthcare utilization data were collected from the electronic medical record.

RESULTS

Of 192 patients newly diagnosed with HIV, 36 (19%) had documented IDU. New HIV diagnoses doubled from 22 to 47 annual cases between 2014 and 2019. The proportion of patients with newly diagnosed HIV and documented IDU increased from 9% in 2014 to 32% in 2019, chi-square test for linear trend P value = 0.001. Eighty-nine percent of patients with IDU had at least one contact with the healthcare system in the year before diagnosis compared to 63% of patients without IDU, P value 0.003. The median (interquartile range IQR) number of healthcare visits was 7 [2-16] for patients with IDU versus 1 [0-3] for patients without IDU, P < 0.001.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed an increase in new HIV diagnoses with an increase in the proportion of newly diagnosed patients with IDU. Patients with newly diagnosed HIV and IDU had high rates of health care utilization in the year before diagnosis presenting an opportunity for intervention.

Association of skin infections with sharing of injection drug preparation equipment among people who inject drugs

BACKGROUND

Sharing needles and injection drug preparation equipment (IDPE) among people who inject drugs (PWID) are well-established risk factors for viral transmission. Shared needles and IDPE may serve as bacterial niduses for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI). Given the rising rates of SSTI in PWID, we investigated the association of needle and IDPE sharing on incidence of SSTI in a cohort of PWID.

METHODS

Inpatient PWID (N = 252) were recruited to a randomized controlled trial of an intervention aimed at reducing infections. The primary outcome was self-reported incidence of SSTI one-year post-hospitalization. In this secondary analysis, we assessed two variables: 1) sharing of IDPE alone, 2) sharing needles with or without IDPE, and compared these groups separately to persons who reported no sharing of needles or IDPE via a mixed-effects negative binomial regression model to estimate the effect of baseline sharing behavior on SSTI during follow-up via incidence rate ratios (IRR).

RESULTS

Participant characteristics: 38 years [mean], 58% male, 60% White, 90% primarily injected opioids, 1.58 (± 2.35) mean SSTI in the year prior to baseline. In terms of sharing behavior, 29% didn't share needles or IDPE, 13% shared IDPE only, and 58% shared needles with or without IDPE three months prior to baseline. After adjusting for co-variables, PWID who shared IDPE alone had a 2.2 fold higher IRR of SSTI (95%CI 1.27; 3.85, p = 0.005) and PWID who shared needles with or without IDPE had a 3.31 fold higher IRR of SSTI (95%CI 2.04; 5.37, p < 0.001), compared to those who did not share any equipment. The number of SSTI at baseline was associated with an IRR of 1.20 of SSTI during follow-up (95%CI 1.09; 1.32, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

In this cohort of hospitalized PWID, we found a significant association between baseline sharing of IDPE alone and of sharing of needles with or without IDPE with one-year incidence of SSTI.

New hepatitis C diagnoses in Ontario, Canada are associated with the local prescription patterns of a controlled-release opioid

Increases in acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence may be a result of the rising prevalence of injection drug use and the opioid epidemic. Among persons who inject drugs, sharing of needles/syringes is less common and leads to a smaller proportion of incident cases than does sharing of injection drug preparation equipment. In Canada and Europe, hydromorphone controlled release has been associated with frequent reuse and sharing of IDPE. Drug excipients within HCR have been shown to preserve virus survival within IDPE. We hypothesized that regional differences in HCV incidence would mirror regional differences in HCR prescribing. We reviewed HCV incidence data across Ontario, Canada for 2016. Opioid prescribing patterns in each Health Unit were reviewed. Multivariable Poisson regression analyses were performed to test the strength of hydromorphone controlled release dispensing patterns in explaining HCV incidence compared to all opioids. Less vehicle access, lack of education, lower income, less population density, higher white race/ethnicity and more opioid substitution therapy recipients remained significant positive predictors of hepatitis C incidence in the Ontario model. Higher hydromorphone controlled release dispensing rate was a stronger predictor of HCV incidence than all opioid prescriptions (standardized risk ratio = 1.17, P < .0001 vs sRR = 1.11, P = .02). When hydromorphone controlled release was excluded from the opioid prescription variable, dispensing patterns of all other opioids no longer remained a significant predictor (sRR = 1.042, P = .34). The observed relationship between HCV incidence and hydromorphone controlled release dispensing suggests that the type of opioid prescribed locally may contribute to variations in HCV incidence. These data add support to evidence that hydromorphone controlled release use is contributing to HCV spread in Ontario.

Numerous outbreaks amongst homeless and injection drug-using populations raise concerns of an evolving syndemic in London, Canada

London, Ontario is a mid-sized Canadian city which appears to be experiencing a syndemic predominately amongst its marginalized populations. Since 2014, rates of HIV, hepatitis A (HAV), hepatitis C (HCV), and invasive group A streptococcal disease have climbed well above provincial rates amid increasing use of injection drugs. Rates of infective endocarditis have also been on the rise. Extensive public health and community-based efforts were taken in response to these concurrent outbreaks. These efforts included establishing improved client care pathways, creating specialized teams to engage underhoused clients, providing mass immunization, and developing new health promotion campaigns. Rates of HIV and HAV were subsequently controlled locally while rates of HCV, iGAS and infective endocarditis remain high within the community and throughout the province.

Risk factors of infective endocarditis in persons who inject drugs

BACKGROUND

The rising incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) among people who inject drugs (PWID) has been a major concern across North America. The coincident rise in IE and change of drug preference to hydromorphone controlled-release (CR) among our PWID population in London, Ontario intrigued us to study the details of injection practices leading to IE, which have not been well characterized in literature.

METHODS

A case-control study, using one-on-one interviews to understand risk factors and injection practices associated with IE among PWID was conducted. Eligible participants included those who had injected drugs within the last 3 months, were > 18  years old and either never had or were currently admitted for an IE episode. Cases were recruited from the tertiary care centers and controls without IE were recruited from outpatient clinics and addiction clinics in London, Ontario.

RESULTS

Thirty three cases (PWID IE+) and 102 controls (PWID but IE-) were interviewed. Multivariable logistic regressions showed that the odds of having IE were 4.65 times higher among females (95% CI 1.85, 12.28; p = 0.001) and 5.76 times higher among PWID who did not use clean injection equipment from the provincial distribution networks (95% CI 2.37, 14.91; p < 0.001). Injecting into multiple sites and heating hydromorphone-CR prior to injection were not found to be significantly associated with IE. Hydromorphone-CR was the most commonly injected drug in both groups (90.9% cases; 81.4% controls; p = 0.197).

DISCUSSION

Our study highlights the importance of distributing clean injection materials for IE prevention. Furthermore, our study showcases that females are at higher risk of IE, which is contrary to the reported literature. Gender differences in injection techniques, which may place women at higher risk of IE, require further study. We suspect that the very high prevalence of hydromorphone-CR use made our sample size too small to identify a significant association between its use and IE, which has been established in the literature.

Prescription opioid injection among young people who inject drugs in New York City: a mixed-methods description and associations with hepatitis C virus infection and overdose

Aim

Evidence is emerging that prescription opioid (PO) injection is associated with increased health risks. This mixed-methods study compares the mechanics of PO and heroin injection and examines the demographic and drug-related correlates of lifetime PO injection in a sample of young people who inject drugs (PWID) in New York City (NYC).

Methods

Qualitative analysis of 46 semi-structured interviews with young adult opioid users ages 18–32. Interview segments describing PO injection were analyzed for common themes. Quantitative analysis of structured interviews with 539 young adult opioid users ages 18–29 recruited via respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Analyses are based on the subsample of 353 participants (65%) who reported having ever injected drugs. All variables were assessed via self-report, except hepatitis C virus status, which was established via rapid antibody testing.

Results

Participants described injecting POs and reported that preparing abuse-deterrent pills for injection is especially cumbersome, requiring extended manipulation and large amounts of water. Injecting POs, in contrast to injecting heroin, requires repeated injections per injection episode. Among RDS-recruited participants, the majority of injectors reported injecting POs, sporadically (33%) or regularly (26%), but often infrequently (≤ 7 days/month). In separate multivariable analyses controlling for syringe- and cooker-sharing, ever injecting POs was a significant predictor of testing HCV antibody-positive (AOR = 2.97) and lifetime experience of non-fatal overdose (AOR = 2.51). Ever injecting POs was independently associated with lifetime homelessness (AOR = 2.93) and having grown up in a middle-income ($51,000–100,000/year vs. ≤ $50,000/year; AOR = 1.86) or a high-income household (> $100,000/year vs. ≤ $50,000/year; AOR = 2.54).

Conclusions

Even in an urban environment like NYC with widespread heroin access, most young PWID have injected POs, although less frequently than heroin. PO injection involves practices that are known to increase risk for blood-borne viral infection (e.g., repeated injections) and predicted testing HCV-positive, as well as overdose. PO injection may also serve as a marker for a subgroup of PWID at elevated risk for multiple drug use-related comorbidities. Programs that provide prevention services to PWID need to tailor harm reduction measures and messaging to the specific practices and harms associated with the injection of POs.

Hydromorphone and the risk of infective endocarditis among people who inject drugs: a population-based, retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

The incidence of infective endocarditis related to injection drug use is increasing. On the basis of clinical practice and epidemiological and in-vitro data, we postulated that exposure to controlled-release hydromorphone is associated with an increased risk of infective endocarditis among people who inject drugs.

METHODS

We used linked health administrative databases in Ontario, Canada, to assemble a retrospective cohort of adults (aged 18-55 years) who inject drugs for the period of April 1, 2006, to Sept 30, 2015. Cases of infective endocarditis among this cohort were identified using International Classification of Diseases 10 codes. We estimated exposure to hydromorphone and risk of infective endocarditis among this cohort in two ways. First, in a population-level analysis, we identified patients living in regions with high (≥25%) and low (≤15%) hydromorphone prescription rates and, after matching 1:1 on various baseline characteristics, compared their frequency of infective endocarditis. Second, in a patient-level analysis including only those with prescription drug data, we identified those who had filled prescriptions (ie, received the drug from the pharmacy) for controlled-release or immediate-release hydromorphone and, after matching 1:1 on various baseline characteristics, compared their frequency of infective endocarditis with that of patients who had filled prescriptions for other opioids.

RESULTS

Between April 1, 2006, and Sept 30, 2015, 60 529 patients had evidence of injection drug use, 733 (1·2%, 95% CI 1·1-1·3) of whom had infective endocarditis. In the population-level analysis of 32 576 matched patients, we identified 254 (1·6%) admissions with infective endocarditis in regions with high hydromorphone use and 113 (0·7%) admissions in regions with low use (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2·2, 95% CI 1·8-2·8, p<0·0001). In the patient-level analysis of 3884 matched patients, the frequency of infective endocarditis was higher among patients who filled prescriptions for hydromorphone than among those who filled prescriptions for non-hydromorphone opioids (2·8% [109 patients] vs 1·1% [41 patients]; adjusted OR 2·5, 95% CI 1·8-3·7, p<0·0001). This significant association was seen for controlled-release hydromorphone (3·9% [73 of 1895 patients] vs 1·1% [20 of 1895]; adjusted OR 3·3, 95% CI 2·1-5·6, p<0·0001), but not for immediate-release hydromorphone (1·8% [36 of 1989] vs 1·1% [21 of 1989]; 1·7, 0·9-3·6, p=0·072.

INTERPRETATION

Among people who inject drugs, the risk of infective endocarditis is significantly higher for those exposed to controlled-release hydromorphone than to other opioids. This association might be mediated by the controlled-release mechanism and should be the subject of further investigation.

FUNDING

Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry (Western University), and Lawson Health Research Institute.

A controlled-release oral opioid supports S. aureus survival in injection drug preparation equipment and may increase bacteremia and endocarditis risk

Background

Injection drug use-associated endocarditis (IDUaIE) incidence in Ontario has recently been associated with hydromorphone prescribing rates. Staphylococcus aureus causes the majority of cases of IDUaIE in Ontario and across North America. Hydromorphone controlled-release (Hydromorphone-CR) requires a complex technique for injection and therefore provides multiple opportunities for contamination. Hydromorphone-CR contains several excipients, which could enhance staphylococcal survival and increase risk of contaminating the injectate.

Methods

Used injection drug preparation equipment (cookers/filters) was collected from persons who inject drugs (PWID), rinsed with water, and plated on Mannitol salt agar. Bacterial isolates from bacteremic PWID were used to assess the survival of S. aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes on cookers/filters with Hydromorphone-CR, hydromorphone immediate-release (Hydromorphone-IR) or oxycodone controlled-release (Oxycodone-CR). The solutions spiked with S. aureus were heated and the remaining viable bacteria enumerated.

Results

S. aureus was detected in 12/87 (14%, 95%CI 8–23%) cookers/filters samples used for injection of Hydromorphone-CR. Hydromorphone-CR was the only opioid associated with greater survival of methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) on cookers/filters when compared to sterile water vehicle control. There was a ~2 log reduction in the number of S. aureus that survived when cookers/filters were heated.

Conclusion

14% of all cookers/filters used in the preparation of Hydromorphone-CR were contaminated with S. aureus. Hydromorphone-CR prolongs the survival of MRSA and MSSA in cookers/filters. Heating cookers/filters may be a harm-reduction strategy.