HIV can live in syringes more than a month
Sun | Health & Fitness
The virus that causes AIDS can remain alive and well in syringes with infected blood for at least 42 days when kept in near-freezing temperatures, according to a new study by Yale researchers.
But when stored above room temperature, or hotter than about 80 degrees, there's a less than 1 percent chance that a syringe will still contain viable samples of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the study found.
The study, published in the journal Substance Use and Misuse, helps assess the various risks that drug injectors might face when they share or reuse discarded needles.