Other infections

A virus is a tiny organism that can live within body cells.

If enough blood cells containing a viral infection pass into your bloodstream then you will become infected.

You can only avoid this by preparing and giving the injection carefully, making sure that when the needle goes into your vein, nothing you are using or injecting could possibly have been contaminated by a drop of someone else's blood (even one that was too small to see).

This means the works must not have been used by anyone else AND neither the drugs nor injecting equipment have been in contact with anyone else's:

• needle or syringe
• mixing water
• spoon
• filter

The best protection is to have your own spoon and mixing water cup (and never let anyone else use them). Wash them before and after use - preferably in boiling water.
Using other people's filters is dangerous because they often come into direct contact with used needles and they are moist and warm - which is an ideal environment for both viruses and bacteria.

Abscesses: Bacteria can be picked up on the needle and taken below the skin. They then multiply in the warm, moist, airless environment.

The body reacts by flooding the area with blood so that the white cells can fight the infection. This is why the area becomes hot, red and swollen. The body then seals off the infected area with a layer of scar tissue and the core created fills with pus as the body tries to kill the bacteria.

If you try to treat this yourself by squeezing or cutting, you can break down the layer of scar tissue and allow the infection to spread. It is best to go to your GP.

Your GP may treat the infection with antibiotics or, if the abscess is big and/or deep, they may surgically open it and treat the wound so that it can heal properly.

If you are using painkilling drugs (such as heroin), remember that you may not be able to feel the pain from an abscess. If it looks bad, get help.

Abscesses can leave scar tissue as a mark on the surface of the skin or as a hard lump under the skin.

Cellulitis: is a serious infection of the skin. The infected area becomes hot, red, very swollen and painful. It can spread to cover a whole arm or leg. The swelling is usually severe and causes the skin to stretch tightly over the infected area.
If an infection like this takes hold, you must go to a doctor urgently.

Septicemia: (better known as blood poisoning) is the name given to a bacterial infection of the blood.
The symptoms are a very high temperature and feeling very ill. If untreated, septicemia can kill, so go to your GP or hospital. It doesn't have to come from a ‘dirty hit' or an infected injection site: people can just become ill in the hours or days following an injection.

The source of the above information is the Exchange Supplies. This information has been summarized by and for FARS services. For the direct link to this source, click on: ww.exchangesupplies.org/drug_information/the_handbooks/the_safer_injecting_handbook