The majority of diabetics in this country use disposable syringes and needle units for their insulin injections. Health care providers have traditionally recommended that these disposable syringes be discarded after each use to reduce the possibility of infection; manufacturer's instructions also state that the disposable syringes are to be used once and then discarded. Despite the limited research in this area, many American diabetic teaching programs have recently adopted a policy of encouraging ambulatory diabetics to reuse their syringes. However, the subject remains controversial. Of 166 subjects surveyed at a diabetic clinic, 74 (44.6%) reused their insulin syringes. Four syringes were found to be contaminated with normal skin flora. No pathogenic organisms were isolated. In addition, 15.1% of the subjects did not clean their hands or the site prior to the injection.
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