The CDC’s “One and Only One” safe injection campaign is accepted by public health professionals globally but the desire for a safe jet injection needless device are still very much desired by many as a means to prevent accidental needlesticks and for other noble reasons. Some devices have been approved for limited use. A 100% safe jet injector may not be attainable so the public needs to learn what a safe injection is and isn’t.
The website has also been updated with excellent infographics about single and multi-dose. Their twitter feed is also good.
My awareness has been raised! A while back, a doctor applied a topical gel before giving me injections. A long Q-tip was dipped into plastic jar, then rubbed on my skin, then re-dipped into the jar (which I’m sure will be used with other patients). It happened quickly and I didn’t think about it until later. By applying the concepts learned from “the one and only one” campaign, I realize that a new Q-tip should have been use instead of double-dipping the old one and mixing my DNA into the gel.
Yes, if a person before you received an injection from an old (withdrawn) model jet injector, and they were carriers of a blood-borne disease, the DNA or RNA would likely remain on the nozzle and be transferred to the next person’s skin. The risks, in that case, might be similar, I’ve read somewhere, to being stuck accidentally with a needle which had just been used on a carrier. That might be a 10% or less chance of actually contracting a disease. There are so many physical and host variables that would play a role. The new jet injectors have disposable caps, disposable vials, and have other safety designs built in which have slowed down the patient-per-hour efficiency rate. I see them as useful in emergency situations, for patients fearful of needles, or for dentistry but otherwise, there aren’t that many benefits. For example, there are still medical waste disposal issues. Another downside is that there is more trauma to the skin compared to today’s needles. I think the FDA needs to proceed very slowly in allowing their use for routine injections.
Like a jetgun injection could give anyone a disease. No such evidence exists and that is backed up by the one truthful entity left in our nation. Yep the government! I see that tiny speck of light which signals the end of the fight over transmission factors but who will be alive to care? Just pushing on and fighting the good fight is all we can do and hopefully pass some knowledge along. Scary about the Q-tips and I shudder to think if they tried to save money on gloves 😦