Small traces of blood can remain in the needle after use and be pushed into a person's vein who shares that needle with someone who is HIV positive. The only way to protect yourself is to abstain, use a new needle or wash the old needle in bleach and water several times. Water must be the last step to rinse off all the bleach.
Drugs are the main reason that there is a failure rate with abstinence.
The choices to be abstinent, careful or have sex only when you can be safe and sober are obvious options. Now is a program of AIDS Housing Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara, California. Our mission is to educate young people about HIV and AIDS through the World Wide Web. We also lead classroom presentations to high schools and colleges in Southern California. Many Thanks to Silicon Beach Communications for their support of this web site.