Dr. Sandra Springer: On the other epidemic fueled by the opioid crisis

This spring, Yale associate professor of medicine and infectious disease expert Sandra Springer participated in a national workshop to address a recent rise in infectious diseases related to the opioid crisis. Convened by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), the workshop brought together top thinkers with a range of medical, public health, government, law enforcement, and community perspectives to develop an action plan for responding to the overlapping epidemics. YaleNews talked to Springer about her role in this effort and strategies she has outlined in a paper published by Annals of Internal Medicine. An edited version of the conversation follows. How has the crisis of opioid addiction increased rates of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV? What's the connection?  We've seen a new epidemic in Hepatitis C and HIV over the last few years related specifically to a rise in opioid use. It has been linked to sharing injection drug using equipment mainly but is also associated with unprotected sexual intercourse that may be happening under the influence of the drugs. The other epidemics that we're seeing linked to the opioid epidemic are a rise in invasive bacterial infections, predominantly related to an increase in Staphylococcus aureus, including both methicillin-sensitive and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), but also due to other organisms that have caused blood stream infections, and infections of the heart valves, skin, and soft tissues, and the joints and the bones.