Survival of Hepatitis C Virus in Syringes Is Dependent on the Design of the Syringe-Needle and Dead Space Volume.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Many people who inject drugs (PWID) use syringes with detachable needles, which have high dead space (HDS). Contaminated HDS blood may substantially contribute to the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and other blood-borne viruses within this population. Newly designed low dead space (LDS) syringe-needle combinations seek to reduce blood-borne virus transmission among PWID. We evaluated the infectivity of HCV-contaminated residual volumes recovered from two LDS syringe-needle combinations.

Methods

We tested two different design approaches to reducing the dead space. One added a piston to the plunger; the other reduced the dead space within the needle. The two approaches cannot be combined. Recovery of genotype-2a reporter HCV from LDS syringe-needle combinat

SUBMITTER: Binka M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4633215 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature