Injecting infections - Harm Reduction Works...injecting booklet 31/07/2009 10:05 Page 3 Composite C M Y CM MY CY CMY K If you inject, please read this booklet. You have been given

injecting booklet 31/07/2009 10:05 Page 1

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C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

What you need to know

Injectinginfections


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If you inject, please read this booklet.

You have been given this booklet because we

want to reduce the number of injecting drug

users who get HIV and hepatitis B and C.

Cutting down or stopping injecting is the best way toprotect yourself from infection and injury, and gettinginto treatment is one of the best things you can doto help cut down the amount you inject.


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You can protect yourself (and others) fromserious infections if you:

1 Use new sterile injectingequipment every time,and never share:

■ needles and syringes;

■ spoons or cookers;

■ water;

■ filters; or

■ acids.

2 Clean any injectingequipment you re-usewith thin bleach.


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3 Create a ‘safe space’for preparing your hit.

You can do this bygetting it together on asurface that you canthrow away afterwards(like a newspaperor magazine).

4 Always dispose of usedinjecting equipmentsafely.

Use a sharps bin to storeused equipment untilyou can take it backto the needle exchange.


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Infections

There are two main types of infection that canget into your body when you inject drugs– bacteria and viruses.

Viruses live in cells

and can be carried

in blood.

IN

Bacteria live on

the skin and all

other surfaces.

ON


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Bacteria

To reduce the risk of infection – always wash your handsand the injecting site with soap and water before you start.

If you are prone to infections then take

extra care washing your hands and

keep your injecting sites clean.

If you inject drugs you willalways inject some bacteriaas well.

Your immune system willusually find the bacteria andkill them. But sometimesthey will cause an infection.

This is usually because itis a powerful infection oryou have injected a lot ofbacteria or your bodycan’t fight off the infectionbecause you are unwellor your circulation isn’tvery good.


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Viruses

Viruses are tiny – if a singlevirus was blown up to be thesize of a marble, a syringeat the same scale wouldbe 75 miles high.

Because viruses live andreproduce in cells, it is hardto kill them without killingthe body cells at the sametime. Antibiotics have noeffect on viruses – so you’vegot to avoid catching them.

There are three differentviruses that can be passedon to others in blood thatinjectors need to knowabout – hepatitis B,hepatitis C and humanimmunodeficiency virus(HIV).


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Hepatitis B and hepatitis Cattack your liver. HIV attacksyour immune system andcan cause AIDS.

Following the injectingadvice at the beginning ofthis booklet will help toprotect you and others fromall three viruses.

It only takes a tiny amountof blood to get into anotherperson’s bloodstream forthe viruses to be passed on.

There can be thousandsof virus particles in a dropof blood that is too smallto see.

Sharing any material or objects that could

have come into contact with blood might

lead to infection.


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HIV is a virus that lives in blood. It can be

passed on by sharing injecting equipment

and having unprotected sex. There is no

vaccination that can protect you against HIV.

Needle and syringeexchange has been availablein the UK since shortlyafter the discovery of HIV.

Because of this, there arevery low levels of HIV amonginjectors in the UK. But thiscould easily change...


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To keep the number of HIVinfections low, injectors inthe UK need to avoidsharing works and otherinjecting equipment, andto practise safer sex.

In other countries, wheregetting hold of sterile worksis much more difficult, HIVrates have grown muchhigher and so many moreinjectors have died of AIDS.

Testing

The only way to tell ifsomeone has HIV is byblood tests.

The HIV test looks forantibodies – the substancesyour body makes to fightthe virus.

If there are HIV antibodiesin your blood, it means youare infected with the virus.


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The disease

The HIV virus can causeAIDS, which stands foracquired immune-deficiencysyndrome.

Without treatment, the virusdestroys the immune system,leaving you open to a widerange of infections that ahealthy body would be ableto fight off easily.

Treatment

HIV treatment has becomemuch more successful attreating infections.

Early diagnosis makes itpossible for you to get theright treatments at theright time.


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Hepatitis C (hep C) can cause serious liver

disease. It is passed on through sharing

injecting equipment.

There are two reasonsinjectors are much morelikely to catch hep Cthan HIV:

■ far more injectorshave it; and

■ it is more infectious.

People in sexual relationshipssometimes think: “We’rehaving unprotected sex,so it doesn’t make anydifference if we share works.”

It does!

Hep C is rarely transmitted through sex

but it is easily transmitted through sharing

injecting equipment.


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Testing

Sometimes people testpositive for the antibody,but negative for the virus.This means that the virushas been in the bloodstreambut has now gone.

This doesn't mean that theyare immune, and sharing inthe future can easily resultin hep C infection.

The only way to tell if you have hep C is by

blood tests. The first test is for antibodies,

the second test looks for the virus itself.

It is very important that all injecting drug

users have regular tests for hepatitis C.


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■ chronic tiredness;

■ anxiety;

■ feeling sick;

■ a poor appetite;

■ weight loss;

■ feeling ill afterdrinking alcohol;

■ pale stools and dark urine;

■ skin and eyeballs turningyellow (jaundice);

■ aching pain andtenderness below theribs on the right side;

■ joint pains andmuscle pain;

■ poor concentration: and

■ depression and anxiety.

Hep C is not a disease that causes problems

straight away, but it can creep up on you

and make you really ill.

Liver damage can be slow to develop, so few people areaware of anything for the first few years.

The symptoms of liver disease can include:


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You are much more likely to get ill if you drink alcohol.

Liver disease is much worse for people who drink alcoholheavily (even if only occasionally).

Drinking heavily, especially over a long period of time,greatly increases the risk of serious liver disease.

One of the hard things for people with hep C

is that it can be difficult to know if the virus

is making them ill as all of these symptoms

can be caused by other problems too.


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Treatment

Treatment for hep C is often effective in getting rid of thevirus, and is becoming more widely available. It involvesgiving people injections of a drug called interferon, combinedwith other drugs that are effective against the virus.

Hep C treatment works.


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The disease

People who catch thehepatitis B virus andexperience the infection canhave a few very unpleasantweeks or months of illnesswith symptoms includingextreme tiredness, loss ofappetite, being unable totolerate alcohol andsometimes yellowing ofthe skin, known as jaundice.

The body then usually(but not always) gets ridof the virus withouttreatment.

Treatment

For those people whodevelop long-termhepatitis B infection, theblood tests and treatmentare similar to those forhepatitis C.

Hepatitis B is present in blood. It can be passed

on very easily (to people who haven’t been

vaccinated) through sharing injecting

equipment and having unprotected sex.


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Get vaccinated! There is a vaccination

against hepatitis B. All drug users and

their close families should have it.

If you have been vaccinated,you can’t catch hepatitis B(but you could still catchhepatitis C or HIV).

If you have not alreadybeen offered the hepatitis Bvaccination, your needle

exchange, drug treatmentservice or GP should beable to arrange it for you.

It usually takes three jabsin your arm over a fewweeks or months.

You must have the full course of vaccinations,

and then have a blood test to make sure it has

worked – then it’s one less virus to worry about!


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The Harm Reduction Works resources are produced by Exchange Supplies

for the National Treatment Agency and Department of Health

as part of the Reducing Drug Related Harm Action Plan.

© National Treatment Agency / Department of Health / Exchange Supplies 2009

Re-order code: HRPUB4

HarmReductionWorks.org.uk

Documents

Injecting infections - Harm Reduction Works...injecting booklet 31/07/2009 10:05 Page 3 Composite C M Y CM MY CY CMY K If you inject, please read this booklet. You have been given