High prevalence of injection drug use and blood-borne viral infections among patients in an urban emergency department.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The opioid epidemic has led to an increase in the number of persons who inject drugs, and this population accounts for 12% of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and 60% of new hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in the United States annually. While persons who inject drugs disproportionately utilize the emergency department (ED), accurate data is lacking on the prevalence and patterns of injection drug use, and prevalence of co-occurring HIV and HCV infections among ED patients. OBJECTIVE:The primary outcome was to assess the prevalence of injection drug use and co-occurring HIV and HCV infection among patients presenting to an urban ED. METHODS:This was a cross sectional study conducted at an urban ED, with an annual census of 65,000 visits. A closed-response questionnaire w

SUBMITTER: Anderson ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7272082 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature