For further information on liver cancer please ask for a copy of our Primary Liver Cancer leaflet. How hepatitis C is passed from person to person A tiny amount of blood, not visible to the naked eye, from someone who has the virus will transmit the infection if it gets into someone else s bloodstream, for example through a cut or scratch. Lending and borrowing injecting paraphernalia is common. It includes not only syringes and needles but spoons and other containers for mixing drugs, water, swabs, filters, tourniquets and utensils such as lighters and knives2. Only one occasion of sharing is needed to be potentially exposed to the virus and that may have been years previously.
Some users are unclear about what sharing means.
For example, they believe that using the same equipment as a long term partner, is not sharing and hence safe. Others class sharing as using equipment at the same time as someone else and are unaware the virus may survive for hours, days or even weeks on dirty needles and other paraphernalia. Occasional users are likely to share because the drug use is unplanned and first experiences of injecting are nearly always with borrowed equipment. Long term users who usually use needle exchanges still share from time to time. Bodybuilders who inject steroids are also at risk of infection.