Sharing paraphernalia does not directly result in hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission but instead is a surrogate for transmissions resulting from sharing drugs, a recent study found. In experiments designed to replicate real-world injection practices when drugs are shared, the residual contents of HCV-contaminated syringes with detachable or fixed needles were passed through the “cookers” and filters used by people who inject drugs (PWID) in preparing drugs for injection and then introduced into a second syringe. All items were tested for the presence of infectious HCV using a chimeric HCV with a luciferase gene. Researchers found:

• HCV could not be recovered from cookers regardless of input syringe type or cooker design.
• Recovery was higher when comparing detachable needles to fixed needles for residue in input syringes, filters, and receptive syringes.