Abstract
BackgroundSyringe services programs (SSPs) are able to offer wrap-around services for people who inject drugs (PWID) and improve health outcomes.Case presentationA 47-year-old man screened positive for a skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) at an SSP and was referred to a weekly on-site student-run wound care clinic. He was evaluated by first- and third-year medical students, and volunteer attending physicians determined that the infection was too severe to be managed on site. Students escorted the patient to the emergency department, where he was diagnosed with a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus arm abscess as well as acute HIV infection.ConclusionStudent-run wound care clinics at SSPs, in conjunction with ongoing harm reduction measures, screenings, and treatment services, provide a safety-net of care for PWID and help mitigate the harms of injection drug use.
Highlights
Syringe services programs (SSPs) are able to offer wrap-around services for people who inject drugs (PWID) and improve health outcomes.Case presentation: A 47-year-old man screened positive for a skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) at an SSP and was referred to a weekly on-site student-run wound care clinic
We report a case of undiagnosed acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection presenting as vague constitutional symptoms in the setting of a developing abscess identified by an SSP
Case presentation The patient is a 47-year-old man with severe opioid use disorder who presented to the Infectious Disease Elimination Act (IDEA) SSP at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine with right arm swelling and pain progressing over 3 days
Summary
Injection drug use (IDU) continues to be a significant public health problem in the USA. Case presentation The patient is a 47-year-old man with severe opioid use disorder who presented to the Infectious Disease Elimination Act (IDEA) SSP at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine with right arm swelling and pain progressing over 3 days On this day, he was visiting the student-run walk-in wound care clinic, which provides free medical services to a population with substance use disorders and often experiencing homelessness [23]. Via the substance use disorder curriculum at the University of Miami, he is participating in small group discussions with medical students and sharing the benefits of harm reduction measures, the importance of safe injection practices, and his experiences with MOUD and stigma within the healthcare system Even though he has discontinued MOUD, he keeps buprenorphine in. His medication locker at the IDEA SSP so he can reinitiate when he is ready
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
