OBJECTIVES Research has indicated that there is minimal use of pharmacies among injection drug users (IDUs) in specific neighborhoods and among Black and Hispanic IDUs. We developed a community-based participatory research partnership to determine whether a multilevel intervention would increase sterile syringe access through a new policy allowing nonprescription syringe sales in pharmacies. ...

INTRODUCTION Improving access to sterile injection equipment is a key component in community-based infectious disease prevention. Implementation of syringe access programs has sometimes been complicated by community opposition and police interference. CASE DESCRIPTION In 2006, the Delaware legislature authorized a pilot syringe exchange program (SEP). A program designed to prevent, monitor, a...

Dupilumab was approved for treating adult patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) refractory to topical therapy in Japan April 2018, and self-injection of dupilumab has been available since May 2019. Subcutaneous medication benefits the healthcare system. However, anxiety about self-injection, lack confidence, complicated procedure could prevent initiating self-injection. In this study, we assesse...

Needle exchange programs chase political as well as epidemiological dragons, carrying within them both implicit moral and political goals. In the exchange model of syringe distribution, injection drug users (IDUs) must provide used needles in order to receive new needles. Distribution and retrieval are co-existent in the exchange model. Likewise, limitations on how many needles can be received ...

Vertebroplasty, a medical procedure for treating vertebral fractures, requires practitioners to inject bone cement inside the vertebra using cannula attached syringe. The required injection force must be small enough practitioner apply it by hand while remaining stable controlled injection. Several factors could make unintuitive practitioners, one of them being non-Newtonian nature cement. visc...

BACKGROUND Recently, equine multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have received significant attention as therapy for various conditions due to their proposed regenerative and immune-modulating capacity. MSC are commonly administered to the patient through a hypodermic needle. Currently, little information is available on the effect of such injection has on equine MSC immediate and delayed...

Syringe-sharing behaviors among injection drug users (IDUs) are typically based on self-reports and subject to socially desirable responding. We used 3 short tandem repeat (STR) genetic biomarkers to detect sharing in 2,512 syringes exchanged by 315 IDUs in the Baltimore needle exchange program (NEP; 738 person-visits). Demographic characteristics as well as direct and indirect needle-sharing b...

Unsterile needles and syringes may transmit blood-borne infectious agents such as HIV and hepatitis B virus. The emergence of these diseases as major public health concerns and the risk of nosocomial transmission has heightened interest in the development of single-use injection devices. WHO and UNICEF embarked on a programme to develop and introduce these devices in 1987. We report on a field ...

BACKGROUND The United States (U.S.) approved use of federal funds for needle and syringe programs (NSPs) in December 2009. This study compares syringe disposal practices in a U.S. city with NSPs to a U.S. city without NSPs by examining the prevalence of improperly discarded syringes in public places and the self-reported syringe disposal practices of injection drug users (IDUs) in the two citie...