Unsafe Injection Practices Persist Despite Education Efforts

An online survey of US health care providers finds some reporting syringe and needle reuse, putting patients at risk for blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. The May-June 2010 poll of 5,446 eligible respondents, conducted by the health care purchasing alliance Premier Inc., included personnel from hospitals (66 percent) and non-hospital settings (34 percent).

Unsafe practices identified included 6 percent reporting “sometimes or always” using single-dose/single-use medication vials for more than one patient; 0.9 percent “sometimes or always” reusing a syringe while changing only the needle for use on another patient; and 15.1 percent reusing a syringe to enter a multidose vial and then 6.5 percent saving that vial for use on another patient (1.1 percent overall). Cost-savings was most commonly cited as a motive.

Syringe and needle reuse is a problem involving a “small but disturbing percentage of clinicians in various health care settings,” said Gina Pugliese, vice president of the Premier Safety Institute.

Pugliese cited “lack of awareness and mistaken beliefs” behind some of the risky practices. Some providers may wrongly assume contamination only affects the needle but not the syringe, she said, or that syringe reuse with IV tubes is unproblematic. Misapprehensions also include the reuse of a single-dose vial, if it contains leftover medication, on more than one patient, she noted.

A CDC study of 68 US ambulatory surgical centers in three states found infection-control lapses were common. It cited in particular the use of single-dose medication vials for more than one patient; nonadherence to equipment-reprocessing recommendations; and mishandling of blood glucose monitoring equipment.

On April 26, Premier and the Safe Practices Coalition sponsored a daylong industry meeting in Washington to raise awareness about preventing unsafe injection practices. CDC injection-safety guidelines can be found by visiting: http://www.cdc.gov/injectionsafety/unsafePractices.html.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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