Aa
Should I worry? Non Sexual
Hi Dr.
I manage a property in my city, and often come in contact with the homeless. I moved a gentleman's bicycle that was obstructing the doors to the complex, and when i felt the handlebars they were moist. I had some hand sanitizer in my pocket and lathered my hands. A few minutes later, the owner of the bike showed up. He's an HIV positive guy we know well in the area and he often comes to talk to us about his condition, and I retrieved the bike for him. When i gave him his bike back, i noticed a long thin pin beside the left handlebar that was attached to the bars off the leather part. It almost looked like some sort of a sewing needle, definately not a syringe. It was attached to some plastic thing almost like a hair clip or something on the bar beside the handlebars. After i gave the bike back, i began to wonder if the pin/needle could have pricked me and i just didn't notice it. I was thinking what if he pricks himself purposely or what if it was "works" from IV drug use. I wasn't wearing gloves and after handling the bike i washed my hands thoroughly. I didn't feel anything and i can't remember having my hand directly near the spot of the pin but i suppose you never know. Am i worrying needlessly? I telephoned a hotline and the woman laughed and said i'd definately know if i suffered a needlestick and that it was the interaction with the guy which threw me off. I never really thought much about aids before this doc. I am hetero, and have always used condoms and never used IV drugs. Should i worry about testing after this bicycle handling incident?
Thanks for your advice here doc.
I manage a property in my city, and often come in contact with the homeless. I moved a gentleman's bicycle that was obstructing the doors to the complex, and when i felt the handlebars they were moist. I had some hand sanitizer in my pocket and lathered my hands. A few minutes later, the owner of the bike showed up. He's an HIV positive guy we know well in the area and he often comes to talk to us about his condition, and I retrieved the bike for him. When i gave him his bike back, i noticed a long thin pin beside the left handlebar that was attached to the bars off the leather part. It almost looked like some sort of a sewing needle, definately not a syringe. It was attached to some plastic thing almost like a hair clip or something on the bar beside the handlebars. After i gave the bike back, i began to wonder if the pin/needle could have pricked me and i just didn't notice it. I was thinking what if he pricks himself purposely or what if it was "works" from IV drug use. I wasn't wearing gloves and after handling the bike i washed my hands thoroughly. I didn't feel anything and i can't remember having my hand directly near the spot of the pin but i suppose you never know. Am i worrying needlessly? I telephoned a hotline and the woman laughed and said i'd definately know if i suffered a needlestick and that it was the interaction with the guy which threw me off. I never really thought much about aids before this doc. I am hetero, and have always used condoms and never used IV drugs. Should i worry about testing after this bicycle handling incident?
Thanks for your advice here doc.
ha ha. It blanked out the word p.r.i.c.k. which I meant to use like a light poke by something sharp.
dang censors!
dang censors!
Even needlesticks that happen to medical personnel are graded as to "risk". The highest risk of transmission occurs with a large bore (ie, big needle) that is HOLLOW (such as a large bore hypodermic or iv needle) AND contains infected blood inside.
Small, non-hollow needles pose very little risk to the person who was stuck. So if it were just a pin of some sort, and you were stuck so lightly that you didn't even feel it, you are ok. Even if it were his "works", the needle was so small and the ***** so slight you didn't feel it, there would be such a miniscule risk it isn't worth even calculating.
You are panicking very unecessarily.
As I've seen Dr. HHH say repeatedly, you have a higher risk of dying by lightening strike than getting HIV from the scenario you proposed.
Small, non-hollow needles pose very little risk to the person who was stuck. So if it were just a pin of some sort, and you were stuck so lightly that you didn't even feel it, you are ok. Even if it were his "works", the needle was so small and the ***** so slight you didn't feel it, there would be such a miniscule risk it isn't worth even calculating.
You are panicking very unecessarily.
As I've seen Dr. HHH say repeatedly, you have a higher risk of dying by lightening strike than getting HIV from the scenario you proposed.
Lang,
I still wouldn't worry about it.
Put it this way:
What about the countless number of sanitation workers all across this country who dispose of millions of pounds of trash that ever received a cut on their hand. Of all these persons who perform this job, never has it been known (to my knowledge) that they have been infected from, let's say a "dirty needle", razor, someone's sewing materials, etc.
I would believe you would need a "deep" puncture wound to be exposed, not to mention the variable environmental conditions that needed to exist for the virus to survive on an outside surface, such as a bicycle handle and the amount of virus would then have to enter the blood stream.
If in further doubt, I would contact your family practioner and run your situation by them as well.
Good Luck
Brian
I still wouldn't worry about it.
Put it this way:
What about the countless number of sanitation workers all across this country who dispose of millions of pounds of trash that ever received a cut on their hand. Of all these persons who perform this job, never has it been known (to my knowledge) that they have been infected from, let's say a "dirty needle", razor, someone's sewing materials, etc.
I would believe you would need a "deep" puncture wound to be exposed, not to mention the variable environmental conditions that needed to exist for the virus to survive on an outside surface, such as a bicycle handle and the amount of virus would then have to enter the blood stream.
If in further doubt, I would contact your family practioner and run your situation by them as well.
Good Luck
Brian
I didn't feel the pinprick if there was one Brian. I am only looking back in retrospect worrying there could have been one without me noticing. I never felt a thing.
I really wouldn't think it would pose a risk at all.
He would have to have an open cut/wound for entry AND there would have to be (1) a sufficient amount of virus in the blood to transfer the virus (2) HIV would have to survive on an exterior surface for a designated amount of time (that of which I am unaware of).
Also, in a connecting situation I do know of HIV+ men whose MD's have suggested that their HIV- partners not use their razors nor tooth brushes due to possible HIV exposure. ( The only possible way I was able to use an analagous relationship to this person's exposure).
He would have to have an open cut/wound for entry AND there would have to be (1) a sufficient amount of virus in the blood to transfer the virus (2) HIV would have to survive on an exterior surface for a designated amount of time (that of which I am unaware of).
Also, in a connecting situation I do know of HIV+ men whose MD's have suggested that their HIV- partners not use their razors nor tooth brushes due to possible HIV exposure. ( The only possible way I was able to use an analagous relationship to this person's exposure).
Blood on intact skin is not considered a risk. Even if you had touched a mucous membrane (inside nose or eyes) directly after touching the bike (assuming it had blood on it), I don't think this would be considered an exposure either, because nobody has ever gotten it from an inanimate object in this manner before. Dr. H do you agree?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
If you didn't have a painful injury with bleeding==at least a red spot at a place where you felt a *****--there was no exposure. Contact of moisture (e.g., sweat) with your hands is not a risk at all. If the sorts of contact you describe could cause HIV, it would be a generalized infection in the same way as the common cold, influenza, or viral gastroenteritis.
The hotline counselor didn't show great people skills in laughing you off--but she was basically right. You're not at risk. Don't be tested for HIV unless you are at risk by virtue of your sexual lifestyle, drug use, etc.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
The hotline counselor didn't show great people skills in laughing you off--but she was basically right. You're not at risk. Don't be tested for HIV unless you are at risk by virtue of your sexual lifestyle, drug use, etc.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
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