I am posting on behalf of a friend who wanted to know the risks associated with sharing a dollar bill for the purposes of snorting cocaine.
He says that it just sort of happened at a party and that it was with a group of guys he knew really well, (IE they don't engage in IV drug use or high risk sexual activities) and that no one had any visible bleeding of the nose after taking their bumps. He even thinks that he might have been the first one to use the gear (it was a fresh bill), yet he's still wound up about it.
I managed a small victory by convincing him that HIV was of little concern because of how fragile the virus is and how it cant survive on surfaces for more than a matter of seconds. Then someone told him that he was at risk for HCV and it was back to the races. Surprisingly, when I went searching for similar posts there was a complete lack of information. No Statistics, no yeses or nos, even the CDC didn't weigh in as much as they usually do with the usual doom and gloom.
So what is the actual risk for both HIV and HCV?
Is the reason no one gives this matter any concern because it's such a low risk form of transmission?
Also worth mentioning that my friend said he received some type of Hep vaccine in three rounds that was supposed to prevent him from contracting Hep, however I don't know how effective it is against Hep C. He read that hep C was highly infectious and incurable, yet when I asked where he got his information and he told me wikipedia, I almost slapped him.
I would like some clarity on this issue, since it's talked about so little in the expert forums. (I could only find 1 post)