Care of Injection Drug Users With Soft Tissue Infections in San Francisco, California
Open Access
- 1 November 2002
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of Surgery
- Vol. 137 (11) , 1217-1222
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.137.11.1217
Abstract
DURING THE past decade, the use of heroin and other illicit injection drugs has become an irrepressible feature of the urban landscape in the United States. By 1999, an estimated 3.1 million people reported using heroin at some time in their lives, with approximately 154 000 active users and some 104 000 heroin initiates per year.1 The injection of heroin and other illicit drugs is associated with the transmission of blood-borne diseases, drug overdose, and death. Injection drug users are also at risk for the development of serious soft tissue infections. Although infrequently life threatening, cellulitis and abscesses commonly require treatment.Keywords
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