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Background: Detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA is completed through reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) from either oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal swabs, critically important for diagnostics but also from an infection control lens. Recent studies have suggested that COVID-19 patients can demonstrate prolonged viral shedding with immunosuppression as a key risk factor., Case Presentation: We present a case of an immunocompromised patient with SARS-CoV-2 infection demonstrating prolonged infectious viral shedding for 189 days with virus cultivability and clinical relapse with an identical strain based on whole genome sequencing, requiring a multi-modal therapeutic approach. We correlated clinical parameters, PCR cycle thresholds and viral culture until eventual resolution., Conclusions: We successfully demonstrate resolution of viral shedding, administration of COVID-19 vaccination and maintenance of viral clearance. This case highlights implications in the immunosuppressed patient towards infection prevention and control that should consider those with prolonged viral shedding and may require ancillary testing to fully elucidate viral activity. Furthermore, this case raises several stimulating questions around complex COVID-19 patients around the role of steroids, effect of antiviral therapies in absence of B-cells, role for vaccination and the requirement of a multi-modal approach to eventually have successful clearance of the virus., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

There is an urgent need for strategies to address the US epidemic of prescription opioid, heroin and fentanyl-related overdoses, misuse, addiction, and diversion. Evidence-based treatment such as medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are available but lack numbers of providers offering these services to meet the demands. Availability of electronic health record (EHR) systems has greatly increased and led to innovative quality improvement initiatives but this has not yet been optimized to address the opioid epidemic or to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). This report from a clinical decision support (CDS) working group convened by the NIDA Center for the Clinical Trials Network aims to converge electronic technology in the EHR with the urgent need to improve screening, identification, and treatment of OUD in primary care settings through the development of a CDS algorithm that could be implemented as a tool in the EHR. This aim is consistent with federal, state and local government and private sector efforts to improve access and quality of MOUD treatment for OUD, existing clinical quality and HEDIS measures for OUD or drug and alcohol use disorders, and with a recent draft grade B recommendation from the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) for screening for illicit drug use in adults when appropriate diagnosis, treatment and care services can be offered or referred. Through a face-to-face expert panel meeting and multiple follow-up conference calls, the working group drafted CDS algorithms for clinical care felt to be essential for screening, diagnosis, and management of OUD in primary care. The CDS algorithm was reviewed by addiction specialists and primary care providers and revised based on their input. A clinical decision support tool for OUD screening, assessment, and treatment within primary care systems may help improve healthcare delivery to help address the current epidemic of opioid misuse and overdose that has outpaced the capacity of specialized treatment settings. A semi-structured outline of clinical decision support for OUD was developed to facilitate implementation within the EHR. Further work for adaptation at specific sites and for testing is needed.

Background: Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) frequently present to the emergency department (ED) after overdose, or seeking treatment for general medical conditions, their addiction, withdrawal symptoms, or complications of injection drug use, such as soft tissue infections. ED-initiated buprenorphine has been shown to be effective in increasing patient engagement in treatment compared with brief intervention with a facilitated referral or referral alone. However, adoption into practice has lagged behind need. To address this implementation challenge, we are evaluating the impact of implementation facilitation (IF) on the adoption of ED-initiated buprenorphine for OUD into practice., Methods: This protocol describes a study that is being conducted through the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Center for the Clinical Trials Network. A hybrid type III effectiveness-implementation study design is used to evaluate the effectiveness of a standard educational dissemination strategy versus IF on implementation (primary) and effectiveness (secondary) outcomes in four urban, academic EDs. Sites start with a standard 60-min "Grand Rounds" educational intervention describing the prevalence of ED patients with OUD, the evidence for opioid agonist treatment and for innovative interventions with ED-initiated buprenorphine; followed by a 1-year baseline evaluation period. Using a modified stepped wedge design, sites are randomly assigned to the IF intervention which is guided by the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARiHS) framework to assess evidence, context, and facilitation-related factors impacting the adoption of ED-initiated buprenorphine. During the 6 months of IF through the 1-year IF evaluation period, external facilitators work with local stakeholders to tailor and refine a bundle of activities to meet the site's needs. The primary analyses compare the baseline evaluation period to the IF evaluation period (n = 120 patients with untreated OUD enrolled during each period) on (1) rates of provision of ED-initiated buprenorphine by ED providers with referral for ongoing medication (implementation outcome) and (2) rates of patient engagement in addiction treatment on the 30th day after the ED visit (effectiveness outcome). Finally, we will perform a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) to determine if the effectiveness benefits are worth the additional costs., Discussion: Results will generate novel information regarding the impact of IF as a strategy to promote ED-initiated buprenorphine., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03023930 first posted 1/10/2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03023930?term=0069&rank=1.