Health · Medical Research · 2 hrs ago
Drug-related heart infections fell in the US, but stimulant cases rose
Drug-related heart infections in the US fell about 18% from 2020 to 2022, according to researchers who studied hospital data.
These infections, called infective endocarditis, can happen when germs enter the bloodstream through injecting drugs and reach the heart.
The number of cases peaked in 2020 at about 18,700, compared with about 15,300 in 2022.
Stimulants were involved in nearly 47% of cases in 2022, up from 37% in 2016, while the share involving opioids fell.
The infections can cause lasting heart damage or death, and health services have fewer effective treatments for stimulant use disorder than for opioid use disorder.
Researchers said wider access to addiction treatment and harm-reduction services, or a shift from injecting to smoking drugs, could help explain the overall decline.
The research team plans to study better treatments for stimulant use and whether other serious drug-related infections have also decreased.
Drug-related cases of infective endocarditis in the United States fell about 18% from 2020 to 2022, according to a new study.
Researchers counted about 18,700 cases in 2020 and about 15,300 in 2022.
The share of cases involving stimulants rose, reaching nearly 47% in 2022.
Opioids accounted for a smaller share of cases over the same period.
Researchers said wider access to addiction treatment and harm-reduction services could help explain the overall decline.
- Who
- Researchers led by Dr. Paul Christine, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz.
- What
- Drug-related infective endocarditis cases fell in the United States, while the share involving stimulants rose.
- When
- The study tracked cases from 2016 to 2022. The decline was measured from 2020 to 2022.
- Where
- United States.
- Why
- Researchers said the decline could reflect greater access to addiction treatment and harm-reduction services, or a shift from injecting drugs to smoking them.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Stimulants alone accounted for 15% of drug-related infective endocarditis cases.
Cases reached a peak, with about 18,700 drug-related heart infections.
Researchers counted about 15,300 cases, and stimulants alone or combined with opioids were involved in nearly 47%.
The study was reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
- Overall change
- Drug-related cases fell about 18% from 2020 to 2022
- Cases in 2020
- About 18,700
- Cases in 2022
- About 15,300
- Opioid share
- Fell from more than 49% to about 40%
- Stimulant share
- Stimulants alone or combined with opioids rose from 37% in 2016 to nearly 47% in 2022
- Study period
- 2016–2022
What people are saying
I think the issue is not simply that stimulants are gaining more prominence. It is that the health system currently has fewer effective tools to treat stimulant use disorder than opioid use disorder.