HIV seropositivity of needles from shooting galleries in South Florida

D.D. Chitwood, C.B. McCoy, J.A. Inciardi, D.C. McBride, M. Comerford, E. Trapido, H.V. McCoy, J.B. Page, J. Griffin, M.A. Fletcher and M.A. Ashman

American Journal of Public Health, 1990, vol. 80, issue 2, 150-152

Abstract: Needle/syringe combinations were collected from three shooting galleries in South Florida and tested for the presence of antibodies to HIV-1. Fifteen of 148 needles (10.1 percent) tested positive for HIV-1 antibody. Seropositivity rates did not vary by the day of the week of collection, nor by shooting gallery from which they were collected. When the needle appeared to contain blood residue, 20.0 percent were positive versus 5.1 percent with no blood residue. These findings suggest that needles/syringes used in shooting galleries are likely to serve as reservoirs and/or vectors of transmission of the HIV-1 virus, and that although visual inspection of the needle/syringe may be useful in lessening the change for transmission, even the visually 'clean' needles may result in transmission of infection.

Date: 1990
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1990:80:2:150-152_0

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().