HIV risk wen you share needle and injection equipment

Di risk for each injection wey you share

Wen you share needle or syringe, small blood from di person wey use am before fit go straight enter your vein. If dat person get HIV and no dey take treatment wey dey work, CDC estimate di risk from one injection wey you share as 0.63% (around 1 out of 160). Dat one high pass any kind of sex except receptive anal sex (anal sex wey you be di person wey dem enter).

Di risk dey add up wen you dey share often. Ten injections wey you share wit person wey get HIV go give total risk of about 6.1% (around 1 out of 16).

If you no know weda di person get HIV, di chance say e get am na big part of di matter. Among pipo wey dey inject drug, HIV common pass how e be for di general population. UNAIDS estimate say pipo wey dey inject drug fit get HIV about 14 times more than adults in general. For one injection wey you share wit person for United States wey dey inject drug and wey you no know im status, di estimate na 0.034% (around 1 out of 3,000).

No be only di needle

CDC tok say HIV and oda infections dey spread through syringes wey pipo share and through di equipment wey pipo share to prepare di drug. Anytin wey touch blood or di drug solution fit carry di virus, so di safest way na make you no share any of dem.

Equipment wey dem use days or weeks ago no safe too. For lab tests, dem find live HIV for blood wey dem leave inside syringes for room temperature for more than four weeks (Abdala 1999). How much virus survive depend on how much blood remain inside.

Treatment and U=U

Person wey get HIV wey im viral load (how much HIV dey di blood) dey undetectable (di HIV for blood don low reach where test no fit see am) no dey pass HIV through sex. Nobody don confirm say dis protection dey work for needle sharing, so no depend on am here.

Harm reduction: wetin dey protect you

Use new, sterile equipment every time. Dis na di one step wey work pass. Syringe services programs (SSPs), wey dem also dey call needle exchanges, na community programs wey dey give sterile syringes and injection equipment, and safe way to throw dem away. Plenti of dem still dey give vaccination, test, and dey link pipo to care for infectious diseases and treatment for drug use. CDC describe full SSPs as safe, say dem dey work, and say dem dey save moni, and CDC tok say dem get important role to reduce HIV and hepatitis.

Tink about PrEP. PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) na HIV medicine wey you dey take before any exposure (wen HIV fit don enter your body) to protect yourself. If you take am di way dem prescribe, e dey reduce di risk of HIV from injection drug use by at least 74%. Clinic fit tell you which type of PrEP go good for you. Wit consistent PrEP, di estimate for one injection wey you share wit person wey get HIV go come down to 0.16% (around 1 out of 610). Sterile equipment still matter even wen you dey take PrEP, becos e dey also protect you from oda infections wey dey spread through sharing, like viral hepatitis.

Test regularly. Wen you sabi your status, and you encourage di pipo wey you dey inject wit make dem sabi dia own, anybody wey get HIV fit start treatment.

Help for drug use dey if you want am. For pipo wey dey United States, SAMHSA free and private National Helpline dey answer 24 hours a day for 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and fit show you where to get treatment.

Wetin to do now

• If e don pass 72 hours, do test. Lab antigen/antibody test (blood wey dem draw from vein) don be final from 45 days afta di exposure. See how accurate HIV test be week by week.
• If you dey inject regularly, ask clinic or SSP about PrEP and where you fit get sterile equipment near you. Read more for PrEP and PEP.
• If you don share many times, di page exposure wey dey happen again and again dey explain how di risk dey add up and why to test regularly dey help.