A small number of claims by Dublin City Council workers accidentally pricked by discarded syringes are being processed every year. Figures provided by the local authority show that on average five staff members working in the city report a so-called needle stick injury every year, although fewer than half file claims.
Syringes discarded in public areas are assumed to have been used for intravenous drug use, thereby carrying a risk of bloodborne virus transmission including HIV.
“Needles are like mines, they are out there, they are a threat,” said Mannix Flynn, an inner city councillor who said the city’s backstreets and other areas are often “awash with needles”.
Since 2015 there have been 39 reported cases among council staff accidentally stuck by needles, with total associated damages and legal costs amounting to just over €113,000. Reports range from two to eight in any given year.
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Mr Flynn, who had been a vocal opponent to a proposed injecting centre in the capital, said such a facility would not reduce discarded waste. “It absolutely would not,” he said. “What reduces the number of needles is rehab and detox.”
However, despite the risk posed by discarded syringes the chances of contracting serious bloodborne infections are relatively low, according to Prof Sam McConkey, an expert in infectious disease. He said when several factors are taken into account, the chances of infection are probably about three in a million cases.
While treatment and vaccines have significantly reduced the threat from hepatitis infection, HIV could also be warded off successfully where patients receive fast Pep (post-exposure prophylaxis) treatment, reducing the chance of infection by 99 per cent.
Older syringes lying undisturbed for days or longer would also be unlikely to harbour any live virus.
“The metaphor I use is like car accidents; there are about 200 deaths a year or so,” Prof McConkey said. “That is approximately one in every 25,000 [people], whereas here we are talking about three in a million so the risks are lower than dying in a car accident.”
