Table 2.
Quantification of HCV Recovery in Experiment No. 1 and No. 2 From Drug Injection and Preparation Paraphernaliaa
| Input Syringe | Paraphernalia Item | Positive Tests (%) | Average RLU | Standard Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syringe with detachable needle | Input syringe | 96 (73.8%) | 6727 | 5045 |
| Syringe with detachable needle | Filter | 20 (15.4%) | 6494 | 2781 |
| Syringe with detachable needle | Receptive syringe | 122 (93.8%) | 25257 | 11732 |
| Syringe with attached needle | Input syringe | 0 | – | – |
| Syringe with attached needle | Filter | 1 (1.4%) | 1580 | – |
| Syringe with attached needle | Receptive syringe | 32 (45.7%) | 4986 | 3850 |
Abbreviations: HCV, hepatitis C virus; RLU, relative luciferase activity.
aThe level of viral proliferation from HCV recovered from items used to prepare and inject drugs was measured by determining the RLU from the luciferase gene inserted into the chimeric HCV used in these experiments and calculated only for those cases in which the RLU exceeded the threshold indicative of active HCV replication. For conditions with fixed needles, the data came from 130 replications; for conditions with fixed needles, the data came from 70 replications.