Injecting drugs can cause serious heart infections

Injecting drugs can cause serious heart infections
Serious heart infections caused by injection drug use are on the rise.

The researchers also detected significant demographic shifts, which showed, the proportion of hospitalisations for heart infections tied to drug use among patients between the ages of 15 and 34 steadily increased, from 27 percent to 42 percent, from 2000 to 2013. The proportion of such hospitalisations among whites increased from 40 percent to 69 percent. Although female patients were less common, overall, among those hospitalized with infective endocarditis linked to drug use, females accounted for 53 percent of such patients in the younger 15-34 age group. ‘We think the findings are a signal that we need more programs in place trying to help prevent these types of infections from happening, because they are so deadly and costly to the health care system,’ said Wurcel, who noted that there is also a great need for a better understanding of how to coordinate the often prolonged care of patients with these infections, and a better understanding of how and when to educate young people about the risks of opioid abuse and injection drug use. According to the study author future studies analysing the costs of treating infective endocarditis among patients who inject drugs are also needed. This may help spur support and increased funding for additional harm-reduction efforts, including needle-exchange programs, which allow injection drug users to obtain clean needles and syringes. The study has been published online in Open Forum Infectious Diseases . (Read: New study says severe obesity alone can increase risk of heart failure)

Source: ANI

Photo source: Getty images (Image for representational purpose only)

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