San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday March 23, 1989
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

Needles and the syringes attached to them can become contaminated with blood from people infected by HIV, the AIDS virus. In some major cities, addicts who have shared the virus-infected paraphernalia now comprise the largest number of people with the lethal disease.

Researchers at the University of California's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies in San Francisco studied more than 300 heroin addicts who have sought treatment at San Francisco General Hospital since 1986.

Among the addicts who said they shared needles and syringes with just a single partner, only 15 percent said they engaged in that practice last year, whereas 37 percent had reported needle-sharing in 1986.

But among addicts who said they shared needles with multiple partners, the decrease was much less significant - 18 percent of them reported sharing in 1986, compared with 13 percent last year.

At least 30 percent of the intravenous heroin users also reported injecting cocaine, said James L. Sorensen, chief of UCSF's substance abuse services. Most of them, he said, were in the group that habitually shared needles and syringes with multiple partners.

Studies of drug users in San Francisco before 1987 indicated that most addicts then were making an attempt to avoid HIV infection by cleaning their needles and syringes with bleach, although sharing the equipment was still extremely common.

The no-sharing practice is now growing, Sorensen said. Addicts normally use small syringes that are permanently attached to the needle used for the injection, but some use larger syringes with detachable needles. Every drug injection invariably involves suctioning a small amount of blood into the syringe itself. So, cleaning the needle offers no protection against AIDS or other viral diseases because the interior of a syringe can be just as badly contaminated, Sorensen said.

In needle-exchange programs for addicts - whether legal or illegal - both the needle and the syringe must be exchanged for protection against the lethal AIDS virus.

The report from UCSF researchers was published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. They also noted that addicts have recently reported that when the rubber plunger on their syringes becomes stiff after repeated use, the lubricant that coats some brands of condoms can be used on the plunger.

Using condoms for that purpose may have some value against the AIDS virus if the condom is lubricated with nonoxynol-9, a spermicide that has been shown to kill HIV in laboratory tests, Sorensen said.

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