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Background: As injection drug use has increased in the US, so too has the prevalence of receptive syringe sharing. Since the 1980s, Needle and Syringe Programs (NSPs) have been an important source of clean injection equipment and disposal of used syringes. This study reports national syringe coverage and examines the impact of program attributes on organizational-level service uptake, defined as number of syringes distributed per participant contact per year., Methods: In 2019 and 2020, we administered an annual cross-sectional survey to NSPs operating in the US (n = 260). A national estimate of coverage was calculated by dividing the total number of syringes distributed by the 2019 and 2020 population estimate of people who inject drugs (PWID). Frequency distributions and percentages were calculated for categorical variables (e.g., funding, census region, distribution policy/modality), and median and interquartile ranges (IQR) were calculated for continuous variables (e.g., participant contacts, syringes distributed). Bivariate and multivariable mixed effects logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratio associated with organizational characteristics on increasing service uptake at the NSP level., Results: From 2019 to 2020, the total number of participant contacts by NSPs increased from 871,976 to 898,891, and the number of syringes distributed increased from 92,648,529 to 113,071,748. The national coverage estimate increased from 29.5 (95 % CI = 15.0, 58.2) to 35.8 (95 % CI = 18.2, 70.6) syringes per PWID. Fifty-eight percent of NSPs increased service uptake in 2020 as compared to the previous year. NSPs that received government funding and NSPs that changed to a less restrictive syringe distribution policy were more likely to increase service uptake (aOR 1.80, 95 % CI = 1.01, 3.22 and aOR 3.33, 95 % CI = 1.11, 9.94, respectively). Syringe distribution modalities also diversified, with more NSPs reaching participants via backpacking/outreach, fixed site pop-ups, mobile delivery, mail-based delivery, leaving supplies out, and secondary distribution., Conclusion: Both governmental investment in harm reduction programming and needs-based distribution of syringes increased service uptake and thus should be expanded and sustained to reduce harms associated with injection drug use., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) have likely borne disproportionate health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. PWID experienced both interruptions and changes to drug supply and delivery modes of harm reduction, treatment, and other medical services, leading to potentially increased risks for HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and overdose. Given surveillance and research disruptions, proximal, indirect indicators of infectious diseases and overdose should be developed for timely measurement of health effects of the pandemic on PWID., Methods: We used group concept mapping and a systems thinking approach to produce an expert stakeholder-generated, multi-level framework for monitoring changes in PWID health outcomes potentially attributable to COVID-19 in the U.S. This socio-ecological measurement framework elucidates proximal and distal contributors to infectious disease and overdose outcomes, many of which can be measured using existing data sources., Results: The framework includes multi-level components including policy considerations, drug supply/distribution systems, the service delivery landscape, network factors, and individual characteristics such as mental and general health status and service utilization. These components are generally mediated by substance use and sexual behavioral factors to cause changes in incidence of HIV, HCV, sexually transmitted infections, wound/skin infections, and overdose., Conclusion: This measurement framework is intended to increase the quality and timeliness of research on the impacts of COVID-19 in the context of the current pandemic and future crises. Next steps include a ranking process to narrow the drivers of change in health risks to a concise set of indicators that adequately represent framework components, can be written as measurable indicators, and are quantifiable using existing data sources, as well as a publicly available web-based platform for summary data contributions., Competing Interests: Declarations of Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) have been a marginalized and a stigmatized population since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and have not experienced the same life-changing benefits of antiretroviral therapy as others. Tele-Harm Reduction (THR) is a telehealth-enhanced, harm reduction intervention, delivered within a trusted SSP venue. It aims to facilitate initiation of care and achieve rapid HIV viral suppression among PWID living with HIV., Methods: In this mixed-methods study, we employed the Practical, Robust, Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) implementation science framework to identify multilevel barriers and facilitators to implementing the THR intervention. Focus groups (n = 2, 16 participants), stakeholder interviews (n = 7) and in-depth interviews were conducted with PWID living with HIV (n = 25). In addition, to assess feasibility and acceptability, we pilot tested the THR intervention and reported viral suppression at 6 months., Results: Focus groups and stakeholder interviews revealed system and organizational level barriers to implementation including requirements for identification and in person visits, waiting times, stigma, case management inexperience, multiple electronic health records, and billing. A potential facilitator was using telehealth for case management and initial provider visit. In the in depth interviews conducted with PWID living with HIV, participants expressed that the SSP creates a convenient, comfortable, confidential environment for delivering multiple, non-stigmatizing PWID-specific services. 35 PWID living with HIV were enrolled in the pilot study, 35 initiated antiretroviral therapy, and 25 (78.1%) were virally suppressed at six months., Conclusion: Rooted in harm reduction, the THR intervention shows promise in being an acceptable and feasible intervention that may facilitate engagement in HIV care and viral suppression among PWID., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Hepatitis C (HCV) is the most common infectious disease among people who inject drugs (PWID). Engaging PWID in harm reduction services, such as syringe service programs (SSPs), is critical to reduce HCV and HIV transmission. Additionally, testing for HIV and HCV among PWID is important to improve diagnosis and linkage to care. On March 1, 2018, Florida's only legal SSP implemented bundled opt-out HIV/HCV testing at enrollment. We aimed to examine the differences in HIV/HCV testing uptake before and after the implementation of the opt-out testing policy., Methods: Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess predictors of accepting HIV/HCV tests, controlling for opt-in and opt-out policy. Monthly estimates of the percent of participants accepting an HIV test, HCV test, or both were generated. Interrupted Time Series (ITS) analysis evaluated the immediate policy impact on level of uptake and trend in uptake over time for bundled HIV/HCV testing before and after the opt-out testing policy., Results: The total study period was 37 months between December 2016-January 2020 with 512 SSP participants 15 months prior and 547 SSP participants 22 months after implementation of bundled HIV/HCV opt-out testing. Significant predictors of accepting both HIV/HCV tests were cocaine injection (aOR = 2.36), self-reported HIV positive status (aOR = 0.39) and self-reported HCV positive status (aOR = 0.27). Based on the ITS results, there was a significant increase in uptake of HIV/HCV testing by 42.4% (95% CI: 26.2%-58.5%, p < 0.001) immediately after the policy change to opt-out testing., Conclusion: Bundled opt-out HIV/HCV testing substantially increased the percentage of SSP clients who received HIV and HCV rapid tests at enrollment into the program, and the effect remained stable across the 22 months post opt-out testing policy. Future investigation must assess PWID-level perspective of testing preferences and examine whether this testing approach improves HIV/HCV detection among PWID previously unaware of their status., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interests None

Introduction: Injection drug use (IDU) remains a significant public health problem. IDU has been associated closely with the opioid crisis; driving overdose, HIV, and Hepatitis C (HCV) infection nationwide. Syringe services programs (SSPs) remain pivotal evidence-based interventions to reduce harm and engage subgroups of people who inject drugs (PWID). This study aims to provide policy considerations from the IDEA SSP, the first legal SSP in the state of Florida., Methods: We performed a latent class analysis on patterns of substance use among participants (N = 982) newly enrolled in a syringe services program (SSP). Associations between classes of substance use and sociodemographic variables, risky injection and sex behaviors, HIV/HCV status and syringe coverage were analyzed using the R3STEP and BCH 3-step procedures in latent class regression., Results: We found a three-class solution: Heroin-Dominant class (73.9%), Methamphetamine-Dominant class (9.5%) and Heroin/Cocaine class (16.6%). Compared to Heroin-Dominant class, the Heroin/Cocaine class were more likely to report homelessness, sharing works, unprotected sex, public injection, and to be HCV positive. Compared to both Heroin-Dominant and Heroin/Cocaine classes, the Methamphetamine-Dominant class were more likely to be male, Hispanic, gay or bisexual orientation, HIV positive, to report unprotected sex and sex with PWID. In addition, the lowest and highest syringe coverage were among those in the Heroin/Cocaine and Methamphetamine-Dominant classes, respectively., Conclusion: Existing interventions among this population to mitigate infectious disease risk, such as SSPs, can be a used to engage differing PWID populations. However, multi-component, targeted preventive interventions and need-based syringe distribution policies are required to further reduce HIV and HCV risk among various PWID populations., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background/purpose: Perioperative blood transfusion is common after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) and may predispose patients to infectious complications. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between perioperative blood transfusion and the development of post-surgical infection after PD., Methods: Patients who underwent PD from 2014 to 2015 were identified in the NSQIP pancreas-specific database. Logistic regression analysis was used to compute adjusted odds ratios (aOR) to identify an independent association between perioperative red blood cell transfusion (within 72 h of surgery) and the development of post-operative infection after 72 h., Results: A total of 6869 patients underwent PD during this time period. Of these, 1372 (20.0%) patients received a perioperative blood transfusion. Patients receiving transfusion had a higher rate of post-operative infection (34.7% vs 26.5%, p < 0.001). After adjusting for significant covariates, perioperative transfusion was independently associated the subsequent development of any post-operative infection (aOR 1.41 [1.23-1.62], p < 0.001), including pneumonia (aOR 2.01 [1.48-2.74], p < 0.001), sepsis (aOR 1.62 [1.29-2.04], p < 0.001), and septic shock (aOR 1.92 [1.38-2.68], p < 0.001)., Conclusion: There is a strong independent association between perioperative blood transfusion and the development of subsequent post-operative infection following PD., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Introduction: Due to the increase in people who use opioids in the US, there has been a steady increase in injection drug use. Without access to safe syringe disposal locations, people who inject drugs (PWID) have few options other than improper disposal, including in public places. In 2016, Florida's first legal Syringe Services Program (SSP) was established in Miami. This study aims to compare syringe disposal practices among PWID before and after the implementation of an SSP., Methods: Visual inspection walkthroughs of randomly selected census blocks in the neighborhoods in the top quartile of narcotics-related arrests were conducted to assess improperly discarded syringes. Syringe location was geocoded in ArcGIS. Adult PWID pre-SSP (n = 448) and post-SSP (n = 482) implementation were recruited for a survey using respondent-driven sampling in Miami. A Poisson regression model was used to determine the adjusted relative risk (aRR) of improper syringe disposal pre- and post-SSP., Results: A total of 191 syringes/1000 blocks were found post-implementation versus 371/1000 blocks pre-implementation, representing a 49% decrease after SSP implementation. In the surveys, 70% reported any improper syringe disposal post-SSP implementation versus 97% pre-SSP implementation. PWID in the post-implementation survey had 39% lower adjusted relative risk (aRR = 0.613; 95% CI = 0.546, 0.689) of improper syringe disposal as compared to pre-implementation., Conclusions: There was a significant decrease in the number of improperly discarded syringes in public in Miami after the implementation of an SSP. Providing PWID with proper disposal venues such as an SSP could decrease public disposal in other communities., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)