Bacteria - Information by drug users for users

Shooting Clean?

"Licking the end of your spike before a hit, re-using a filter, sipping the water out of the cup you're going to use to draw up from, touching your spike with your fingers???"

What occurs between you picking up that gear and then putting the spike in your vein, is a lot of idiosyncratic practices, habits picked up over an injecting career. A closer look usually tells us there's a few ingrained habits that could prove to be - dodgy to downright dangerous! B

We all know how important good hygiene is for injectors in the prevention of bloodborne viruses like HIV, Hepatitis C or B; Using your own or sterile syringes for each and every hit and the more recent but just as important message of never sharing any spoons, filters, water or tourniquets. All these continue to play a critical part in a hygienic injecting regimen and will, if religiously adhered too, offer you protection against blood-borne viruses (but don't forget the condoms). So what about other infections and bacteria?. How susceptible are injectors to these?

The answers seem to lie in you're injecting routine and, to some extent, how hygienic your dealer is when they're fiddling around with the powder that is soon to be in your spoon. What occurs between you picking up that gear and then putting the spike in your vein, is a lot of iidiosyncratic practices, habits picked up over an injecting career.

Like, for example: licking the end of your spike before a hit, re-using a filter, sipping the water out of the cup you're going to use draw up from, touching your spike with your fingers - all these seemingly small details carry risks of some pretty unpleasant bacteria entering your bloodstream or skin tissue. Long ingrained habits can be hard to break but they are just that - habits and so they can be broken. If you can replace just one unhygienic practice with a safer one, you will be reducing your chances of experiencing future infections or complications -complications that can end up life-threatening, and that's gotta be worth a change . It may sound a bit cliché: but taking a bit of extra care whenever you can, will be protecting your health now and for the future, And since newer injectors pick up injecting practices from other injectors, it's up to all of us to try and pass on safer injecting techniques.

 

How do bacteria affect injectors?

It seems that you carry slightly more risk of getting certain infections if you inject street drugs IM (intramuscularly), under the skin (subcutaneously), or from trussing your hit (similar thing). Bacteria entering your body this way can cause skin or soft tissue abscesses for example, from bugs like staphylococcus that normally live happily on the skin's surface; streptycoccus - within in your mouth and throat, to the sorts that can be picked up from your drugs such as Clostridium, a bacteria that some readers may of heard of already through the terrible infections and deaths that occurred over the last couple of years to a small number of injectors.

Bacteria, when given the chance to enter your bloodstream through your venous system, can travel to your heart (causing endocarditis) joints and bones (septic arthritis) and osteomyelitis (a bacteria] infection of the hone and bone marrow) , or induce other infections like septic thrombophlebitis, septicemia blood poisoning), meningitis, cellulitis (when bacteria infect deeper levels of the skin), brain abscesses and less commonly, tetanus and even malaria!

While the boiling up of a hit of heroin does appear to reduce or kill certain bacteria, those who hit up cocaine, speed, Ketamine, pills etc and use no heat at all when mixing up, are often at greater risk. The practice of repeated injections during a long coke session for example, can often mean that water, syringes, filters and spoons are all left out on the table for hours at a time - increasing the chances of bacteria entering your mix, your skin, and your bloodstream. But from our experience and research, al I injectors are vulnerable and all must take extra care when using their drugs IV. While it's not a good idea to keep any hit mixed up for later, the reality is we all do it sometimes.

• If you've got to keep a hit for later, it's much safer to keep it in its powder form rather than mixed up with liquid. If you must, then keep any saved hits, filters, dex wash-outs, etc in the fridge. And not for more than 8 - 12 hours at an absolute maximum.

• Anyone, who has any sort of infected sore on the skin i.e abscesses, cellulitis, wounds, even infected pimples etc must be EXTREMELY CAREFUL AND HYGENIC when shooting up and should absolutely avoid injecting anywhere near the infected area. It doesn't take much for the bacteria involved to get on your fingers (especially if your a `picker or squeezer') and travel to your injecting site, particularly when one must feel for a vein.

• Never cough over your injecting site/equipment either as a spray of `strep' bacteria is the last thing you want! Powder dealers - take note!

 

Sources of Bacteria

There are 3 main sources of bacteria that are responsible for infections associated with intravenous use. They are the air. the skin and tile blood.

SKIN:
The skin IS the main source of bacteria responsible for intravenous associated infection. Any bacteria found oil the skin are usually referred to as resident or transient.  Resident bacteria are those that are usually present on the skin. being relatively constant on each individual. They adhere tightly to the skin and as mentioned usually include Staphlcoccu.s albus as well as diphtheroids and bacillus species. And since not all bacteria are removed by scrubbing. one must take par­ticular care not to touch any of your injecting equipment - sterile or otherwise, with grubby fingers. Transient flora is loosely attached to the skin and is composed of bacteria which have been picked up by you from your environment and it varies from day to day in it’s quantity and quality. There isn't that much of it on clean protected skin but there can be loads of it on greasy, dirty exposed areas of the body. It is here that handwashing before a hit becomes essen­tial to avoid transferring germs to your injection site or to your equipment.

AIR:
While the actual number of 'microbes' per foot of an varies whenever an infection is pre-sent bacteria escape in body discharges, contaminating clothing, bed­ding, dressings etc. If you have an infec­tion on your body, any sort of activity such as throwing off your shirt, bed making etc, sends bacteria flying into the air - particles of lint and pus and dried skin! These contaminants can then find easy access to unprotected intravenous fluids, for example: A water filled glass that you use to draw water from for injecting, is left open to the air – and any bacteria that has just flown off someone’s bandages can find it’s way in. This also goes for spoons, and filters. In Order to avoid contamination, dispose of all the equip­ment you use after your hit - and if you have another one soon after. well. -get Yourself clean equipment! The alternative of' course is to have a pack of sterile syringes water ampoules and a regularly
cleaned spoon etc. Note -  never use a silver spoon because Of silver tarnish). Trv and cover your water container with a clean lid but only if you have no other way to get more fresh water.

BLOOD:
As we all know all too well,  blood can harbour potentially dangerous organisms. The Hepatitis virus as well HIV is certainly a testament to that. As such it is crucial to wash your hands before and after each hit to ensure you don't transmit or pick up often minute blood particles unseen to the eye that have been left behind to be picked up by another person.

lt doesn't matter what you inject, it is essential for injector to keep themselves healthy. Groin Injectors need to pay particular attention to keeping their site clean and always take care to wash regularly if you inject here as any infec­tion has the potential to be extremely serious.  Those who use in their feet or leg, must also take particular care to keep their sites clean  as all are areas that regularly get exposed to a variety of germs that can easily gain access to your bloodstream after being pushed in on the end of a spike.

 

Hygiene Do's and Don'ts

Changing Habits - by drug users for drug users