title: Heroin-associated anthrax with minimal morbidity.
abstract: In 2010, during an outbreak of anthrax affecting people who inject drugs, a heroin user aged 37 years presented with soft tissue infection. He subsequently was found to have anthrax. We describe his management and the difficulty in distinguishing anthrax from non-anthrax lesions. His full recovery, despite an overall mortality of 30% for injectional anthrax, demonstrates that some heroin-related anthrax cases can be managed predominately with oral antibiotics and minimal surgical intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Monklands Hospital, Airdrie, UK.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Monklands Hospital, Airdrie, UK.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Monklands Hospital, Airdrie, UK.
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Inverarity
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Monklands Hospital, Airdrie, UK.
authors.forename: Satyajit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinha
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000881:Anthrax / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003646:Debridement; D019468:Disease Management; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018461:Soft Tissue Infections / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000382:microbiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents