Resumen de Applying the Infectious Diseases Literature to People who Inject Drugs

David P. Serota, Teresa A. Chueng, Marcos C. Schechter

• Application of the existing infectious disease (ID) literature to people who inject drugs (PWID) must consider their unique medical, psychological, and social challenges.

  Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy can be successful among select PWID with injection drug use-associated (IDU) infections, especially when the alternative is prolonged hospitalization for intravenous antibiotics.

  Data supporting the use of oral antibiotics for severe bacterial infections should be applied with caution to PWID, and close ID follow-up and consideration of barriers to adherence to oral antibiotics are required.

  Literature on surgical management of IDU-associated endocarditis suggests worse longterm outcomes compared with other causes of endocarditis, but there are no prospective data comparing medical versus surgical approaches for IDU-associated endocarditis and little information on the effect of addiction treatment.