Syringe Type Affects HIV Transmission Among Drug Users

[supernova]

< This is a press release about a just published study. I found it over on FB because I follow RTI.- supe >

Syringe type affects HIV transmission among intravenous drug users, according to a study by researchers at RTI International.

....

According to the authors, when a plunger on a syringe is fully depressed, all syringes retain fluid in what has been termed "dead space." In high dead-space syringes, which usually have detachable needles, more than 1000 times more blood is retained in the syringe after washing than in low dead-space syringes.

The researchers found that even a small percentage of exposures involving high dead-space syringes can increase the spread of HIV dramatically, especially in high-risk populations.

Conversely, the study showed that injection-related HIV epidemics are likely to be controlled in areas or populations where 95 percent of syringe-sharing episodes use low dead-space syringes.

more: http://www.rti.org/news.cfm?objectid=F052D79A-F352-D594-F6746DF01805508F

Addiction Journal http://www.addictionjournal.org/


If this turns out to be true, anybody giving out needles and or sharing them better switch out models.