Endocarditis
Written by Prevention Point Pittsburgh.
What is Endocarditis?
Bacterial endocarditis is an infection in the lining or valves of your heart. In addition to damaging your heart, the infection can travel in your blood to other organs and tissues including your brain, lungs, or kidneys.
How does it happen?
Bacteria get into your bloodstream and travel to your heart. One way that bacteria get into the blood is by using needles that aren’t sterile. Another way is by injecting through skin that has not been thoroughly cleaned.
Don’t re-use needles, even your own (if you have to re-use, clean your works with full-strength bleach). Used needles can easily pick up bacteria from your skin into your veins, so it’s important, before using a needle to wash your skin carefully with soap and hot water. Then wipe the area with alcohol pads.
What are the symptoms?
The main symptom is a fever that lasts a long time — up to a week or longer. Other symptoms may include tiredness, feeling lousy, soaking seats at night, blood in your urine, stomach pain, skin rashes, or painful lumps in your hands.
The symptoms might show up in a couple of days, but also might take a couple of weeks. If you have any of these symptoms, you should talk to a doctor, ASAP, that day if possible. Symptoms may not mean endocarditis, but you should protect yourself and find out exactly what is going on.
Don’t delay! If it is endocarditis, it can be treated. But without treatment, it can cause severe damage to the heart and even death.
How do I know I have it?
See a doctor. There are special blood tests that can find bacteria in the blood.Other tests, such as x-rays and urine tests, can help tell if your heart is involved. These are fairly simple tests, but they require hospital equipment and are often done in the hospital. They can usually give an answer within a couple of days.
How is it treated?
Endocarditis can be treated with antibiotics given directly into the bloodstream. Chances of a cure are very good if it’s caught early.
Endocarditis can kill you if it’s not treated
How can I avoid endocarditis?
Keep everything as clean as possible when using needles. Use clean water to mix drugs or rinse needles. Wash your hands and injection site well. Use plenty of hot, soapy water. Then use alcohol pads to clean the injection site. Don’t like your skin in the area where you use the needles and don’t lick the needle. Normal bacteria in the mouth can cause endocarditis if they get into the blood. Even if you are always careful with needles and cleaning, it’s a good idea to go to a doctor if you notice any of the symptoms.
The bottom line:
Use a brand new syringe, cotton, cooker, and water every time you inject or divide drugs.
If you can’t get a new needle, rinse your works with clean water, rinse with full strength bleach, then rinse again with clean water.
Clean your skin before injecting. Use plenty of hot, soapy water or alcohol pads.
Use clean water, clean cottons, and clean cookers.
If you have symptoms, see a nurse or doctor today.
How to use alcohol pads:
Step one: Take an alcohol pad and wipe back and forth where you plan to inject. Press kind of hard. Use as many pads as you need to get the dirt off your skin. But don’t stop here! You’re not done!
Step two: Grab a new pad and press down over the spot where you are going to inject. This time, wipe in a circle. Start with small circles and move to bigger circles to push any bacteria left on your skin outward from the spot where you are going to shoot.
Note: If you bleed after you shoot, press down with dry cotton or a band-aid to stop the flow. Don’t use an alcohol pad; alcohol can make the spot bleed more.