Low Dead Space injecting equipment
When you inject drugs, some of the drug remains in the void spaces of the syringe (know as the dead space), meaning you don’t get your full dose.
If you use Low Dead Space (LDS) injecting equipment, you will get more of your drug with each shot as less is being left behind. This means you do not need to ‘flush’ (draw blood back into the syringe and re-inject) helping to reduce the damage to your veins and reduce the risk of passing on blood-borne viruses.
The Low Dead Space materials are available to order now from the Exchange Supplies website.
What is Dead Space?
‘Dead space’ is the void space between the needle and the plunger that retains drugs when injecting. When you inject, some of the drug remain in this space, meaning you don’t get the full dose.
so if equipment is shared the risk of spreading blood-borne viruses,
such as HIV and hepatitis C
Injecting drug users flush out the tiny amount of drug left in the syringe after injection by drawing blood back into the syringe, and re-injecting. This means that after use, syringes have the dead space filled
with blood that may be infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C
Low dead space injecting equipment has less space between the needle and the plunger after injecting. Blood and drug remain in this space, so if equipment is shared the risk of spreading blood-borne viruses, such as HIV and hepatitis C, is higher when there’s more blood left in the equipment.
Low Dead Space materials are available to order now from the Exchange Supplies website.
For more details about the project please read the paper published in the Harm Reduction Journal.
