Publications by authors named "D L Abramovitz"
In 2020, the in the county of San Diego (COSD) was launched, a private-public joint endeavor between the COSD and the American Liver Foundation. We use epidemic modeling to assess whether the COSD is on track to reach its elimination targets (80% reduction in incidence, 65% reduction in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related mortality by 2030 compared to 2015) and what intervention scale-up may be required. We adapted a previously developed dynamic, deterministic model of HCV transmission and disease progression among adults in the COSD, stratified by risk, age, gender, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status.
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- - The study aimed to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of people who inject drugs (PWID) using a collaborative data-sharing model established in 2021, which pooled data from multiple studies across North America.
- - Researchers analyzed data on various health indicators (like substance use treatment and mental health conditions) over four different time periods: pre-pandemic, early-pandemic, mid-pandemic, and late-pandemic, involving 6,213 PWID participants.
- - The results showed minimal changes in health indicators throughout the pandemic, suggesting stability possibly due to policy adjustments and resilience in support services for PWID, highlighting the potential of the data-sharing model for better health insights.
Background: Illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) increases overdose mortality, but its role in infectious disease transmission is unknown. We examined whether IMF use predicts hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence among a cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID) in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico.
Methods: PWID were recruited during 2020-2022, undergoing semi-annual interviewer-administered surveys and HIV and HCV serological rapid tests through 2024.
Safe injection self-efficacy (SISE) is negatively associated with injection risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID) but has not been examined in differing risk environments. We compared responses to a validated SISE scale between PWID in San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico, and examine correlates of SISE among PWID in Tijuana. PWID were recruited via street outreach for a longitudinal cohort study from October 2020-September 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater, sanitation and hygiene insecurity predict abscess incidence among people who inject drugs in a binational US-Mexico metropolitan area: A longitudinal cohort study.
Int J Drug Policy
July 2024
Introduction: People who inject drugs (PWID) are at high risk of developing injection-related infections, including abscesses. Access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are key human rights and services; yet these services have been underexplored as predictors of abscesses among PWID.
Methods: Longitudinal analysis was employed among a cohort of PWID to determine if WASH insecurity (lack of access) was associated with abscess incidence in the Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, United States metropolitan area during 24-months of follow-up survey data from 2020 to 2023.