Thinner Syringes May Reduce Risk of HIV

[Jabberwocky]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/h...educe-risk-of-hiv-for-drug-abusers.html?_r=1&

Published: January 21, 2013

A study suggests encouraging drug abusers to use thin syringes, which retain less fluid and the virus it may contain.

Distributing “low-dead-space syringes” to addicts could substantially lessen H.I.V. transmission among them, a new study has estimated.

Syringes have widely varying amounts of “dead space” — the amount of fluid retained even when the plunger is fully depressed, said William A. Zule, a researcher at RTI International and the lead author of the paper in The International Journal of Drug Policy.

Fat ones with interchangeable needles may have 40 times as much dead space as thin ones like those used by diabetics. And simulations of the way addicts draw in blood and rinse with water showed that the biggest syringes can retain 1,000 times as much virus as thinner ones.

Many foreign governments that distribute syringes ignore dead space and buy whatever is cheapest, Dr. Zule said.

Recipients of clean syringes are not supposed to share them, but some do. Users of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine usually accept thin syringes, the study said. Users of poppy straw extract, homemade stimulants or crushed tablets may not.

The best way to get addicts to demand low-dead-space syringes, Dr. Zule suggested, may be to point out that they get more drug.

“That may not be politically correct, but you need messages that speak to the group you have to work with,” he said.

No human clinical trials have proved that such syringes save lives, but the idea is plausible and switching now would be affordable and safe, Dr. Zule argued.

 

['medicine cabinet']

i hate that kind on the right, if it gets clogged or something when you are having problems hitting a veing and a little blood congeals in the tip, its like a dart gun lol. my old roomate lost en entire shot because he couldnt get the plunger to depress so he took it out of his armand with it pointing vertically pushed really hard and the tip shot off and stuck in the ceiling, plus the content of the barrel jusdt fell out. i told him to take a lighter and really quickly burn the tip of the syringe but he wasnted to try it his way,

plus at the needle exchange they uisually give out little bottles of bleach so if you have to share you can at least clean it first. but i get the deap spcae idea. even with the kind on the left when the plunger is fully deprerssed is you press really hard you can get a little drop of blood to come out of the tip.

i liked this part-

"The best way to get addicts to demand low-dead-space syringes, Dr. Zule suggested, may be to point out that they get more drug.

“That may not be politically correct, but you need messages that speak to the group you have to work with,” he said.

 

[RedRum OG]

Man I've always hated the interchanagble ones, only ever used in an absolute last resort scenario.

Mostly for this exact reason. I reuse my rigs once or twice usually(hate me all you want) and the changeable kind leave a good amount of blood and dope in there, such a bad design you can never push it all down, such a waste. I don't know how that particular design ever made it off paper into the streets.

"Insulin style" syringes win. I've never shared a rig in my life, but anyone who's stupid enough to share in the first place, let alone with a design that leaves a huge amount of blood and drug inside, deserves whatever they catch

This article is kinda dumb, "so lets see here, if you leave a fuckton of AIDS infected blood in a syringe, theres more of the virus there. If you leave less blood, there's less virus. Astounding! We must tell the world!"

Scientist fail

 

[Venrak]

Yeah, they are BS. Especially when trying to measure and administer concentrated solutions. I draw up with a 3ml rig with removable needle and administer orally, and if I take the needle off after admin I get a bunch of fucking drops falling on the floor where I'm not going to bend down and lick it

 

[JessFR]

This needed encouragement? Here I thought it was already widely known that the detachable needles sucked.

 

[Venrak]

Well it was well known in the IDU community but it is good to see it out getting public attention.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Well it was well known in the IDU community but it is good to see it out getting public attention.

Precisely my thoughts. After a rather long IV/more so IM fest, bth run of like what, three months, average 1.5g/day, after being on 8 subs (reduced to 3mg) for a little over a year. But I digress... What I meant to say way that I was chatting with one of the guys who runs a needle exchange around here about this (as well as best practice for IM, prep, and 1-1.5" high gauge needles) right before I noticed this article.

Shit, what we really need is some sort of detachable needle syringe (for wheel/micron filters and such) that doesn't leave so much solution in the head's "dead space" or whatever... I would imagine they must be out there somewhere, but I've yet to see them in any pharm or on the net.

Yea, sure, I would be amazed if this did anything - in terms of like pubpol or pr or whatever politically. But I always enjoy seeing articles about something important to the millions of needle using folks, even if it always ends with me thinking about how those, largely conservative (which includes Democratic and whatever, whether or not they realize they're not really all that "liberal") folks who have and/or continue to hold power in the states create and structure national and local policy in ways that make it more geared towards killing us than anything else.

Anyways, I've enjoy the feedback. Thanks guys (used in gender neutral sense )!

 

[Serotonin101]

I thought wheels/microns can fit over the short tipped insulin pins. I used 31g 1/2" pins for years, no issues. loved em to be honest.