Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Department of Medicine

Xylazine wounds (Photo: Dan D'Ambrosio/FreePress)

(APRIL 30, 2024) UVMMC infection preventionist Monica Raymond, M.S.N., M.P.H., RN, infectious disease specialist Lindsay Smith, M.D., assistant professor of medicine, and Daniel Wolfson, M.D., M.S., associate professor of emergency medicine, spoke with the Burlington Free Press for a story on a dramatic increase in bloodstream infections suspected to be fueled in part by the increasing presence of the horse tranquilizer xylazine in the illicit drug supply.

In a study published April 25 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, University of Vermont Medical Center researchers found a 900 percent increase over two years in blood infections linked primarily to people who injected drugs, most of whom were also experiencing homelessness.

Xylazine inhibits the blood supply to the skin in people, causing “horrible” wounds, according to Wolfson, who works in UVM Medical Center’s Emergency Department. “You couldn’t even imagine how bad [the wounds] look, and they’re on their face, their legs, their arms—it’s not just where they inject,” Wolfson told the Burlington Free Press.

Raymond said she and the infection prevention team suspect xylazine is “playing a role” in the increase of infections by creating the wounds that allow the bacteria to enter the bloodstream. She said 70 percent of the infections were in people who inject drugs currently or have in the past, and more than half were in people who were homeless.

“We hear a lot about overdoses and death from overdose, which is very serious and concerning, but we don’t hear about other bad outcomes from drug addiction, such as these bloodstream infections,” Raymond said. “It’s important to understand that suffering and death is not just from overdoses.”