HIV-1 transmission in injection paraphernalia Heating drug solutions may inactivate HIV-1

In response to recent concerns about risk of HIV-1 transmission from drug i njection paraphernalia such as cookers, ethnographic methods were used to d evelop a descriptive typology of the paraphernalia and practices used to pr epare and inject illegal drugs. Observational data were then applied in lab oratory studies in which a quantitative HIV-1 microculture assay was used t o measure the recovery of infectious HIV-1 in cookers. HIV-1 survival insid e cookers was a function of the temperature achieved during preparation of drug solutions; HIV-1 was inactivated once temperature exceeded, on average , 65 degrees C. Although different types of cookers, volumes, and heat sour ces affected survival times, heating cookers 15 seconds or longer reduced v iable HIV-1 below detectable levels.