Boulder Care

Preventing and Treating Infections

This content is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information contained herein should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health condition, and those seeking medical advice or guidance should consult with a licensed and qualified healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have learned here or elsewhere.

If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department immediately. No physician-patient or provider-patient relationship is created by this website or its use. Boulder Care makes no representations, express or implied, with respect to the information provided herein or to its use.

Key Points

  1. Sharing equipment for injecting and snorting substances can lead to infections
  2. These infections can be prevented or treated
  3. Use new or clean equipment every time to reduce infection risk (see Safer Use)

Skin Infections

Sometimes injecting substances can lead to a skin infection. The skin can get sore, red, swollen, and warmer. This infection (called “cellulitis” or an “abscess”) needs medical care to release any pus. It will also probably need antibiotics. Please seek urgent medical care if you think you have a skin infection.

Body Infections

Infections can go below the skin and affect the heart or bones. People can get very tired, have fevers over 100° F, and can have pain if there is a bone infection. Please seek urgent medical care if you have these symptoms as they can be life-threatening.

Virus Infections

Sharing equipment can lead to viral infections like Hepatitis C (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). You can get better from these infections. You can also take a medication every day (called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or PrEP) to prevent HIV and Boulder will help you with this.

We work to check all our participants for HCV and HIV. We may also recommend checking for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and vaccination if you need it.

Please talk with your Care Team if you have concerns about infections or want to know more about taking medication to prevent HIV.

Summary

Using substances can lead to infections. Some infections you can feel, like skin or other body infections. If you are concerned about symptoms you have, please seek urgent medical care. With other infections, like HCV or HIV, you may not feel them but could spread them. Please talk with your Care Team if you have concerns about these.

Action List

  1. Get urgent medical care if you have infection symptoms.
  2. Talk with your Care Team right away if you have a hard time getting medical care.
  3. Talk with your Care Team if you have concerns about HCV, HBV, or HIV. If you’d like to be tested independently, please let us know.
  4. Talk with your Care Team about taking a daily medication to prevent HIV.

References and Resources

Questions, concerns, or feedback?

You can send a message to your Care Team in the app with non-urgent questions or feedback, or you can always call Boulder's 24/7 Support at 888-316-0451.

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