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Am I going to be infected? HIV from needle stick.
Hello,
I was playing soccer in a park. After a nasty tackle, I fell down hard into a bush. I got up to find a syringe dangling from my forearm. There was blood inside the syringe and on my arm too. I am very sure that some blood had been injected into my body because I fell in that angle just over the syringe.Please don't tell that blood inside the syringe couldn't have gone inside me. It just did. ( probably ) Immediately me and my friends took the syringe to a hospital and gave it to test for HIV and HCV. To my horror, I came to know that the blood inside the syringe was HIV+.
Fortunately, I examined the injection site and it was not over a vein. Because, a vein just ran above the spot. I am sure there was no vein exactly on the injection site. So am I still at risk for HIV transmission. I can't wait for 3 months to get a result!!
I read somewhere in a post here that there is no risk even if HIV blood was injected into your body if it was not injected into a vein. So, am I safe? I am going to visit the doctor tomorrow but I decided that I will get some help from here. Please assess my situation. Am I doomed?
I was playing soccer in a park. After a nasty tackle, I fell down hard into a bush. I got up to find a syringe dangling from my forearm. There was blood inside the syringe and on my arm too. I am very sure that some blood had been injected into my body because I fell in that angle just over the syringe.Please don't tell that blood inside the syringe couldn't have gone inside me. It just did. ( probably ) Immediately me and my friends took the syringe to a hospital and gave it to test for HIV and HCV. To my horror, I came to know that the blood inside the syringe was HIV+.
Fortunately, I examined the injection site and it was not over a vein. Because, a vein just ran above the spot. I am sure there was no vein exactly on the injection site. So am I still at risk for HIV transmission. I can't wait for 3 months to get a result!!
I read somewhere in a post here that there is no risk even if HIV blood was injected into your body if it was not injected into a vein. So, am I safe? I am going to visit the doctor tomorrow but I decided that I will get some help from here. Please assess my situation. Am I doomed?
You don't need testing for HIV and your doctor is uneducated in HIV and transmission. They haven't been testing at 6 months since 2004.
http://www.cdc.gov/globalaids/Resources/pmtct-care/docs/TM/Module_6TM.pdf
Page 11
#4
In an adult, a positive HIV antibody test result means that the person is infected, a person with a negative or inconclusive result may be in the “window for 4 to 6 weeks but occasionally up to 3 months after HIV exposure. Persons at high risk who initially test negative should be retested 3 months after exposure to confirm results
http://www.cdc.gov/globalaids/Resources/pmtct-care/docs/TM/Module_6TM.pdf
Page 11
#4
In an adult, a positive HIV antibody test result means that the person is infected, a person with a negative or inconclusive result may be in the “window for 4 to 6 weeks but occasionally up to 3 months after HIV exposure. Persons at high risk who initially test negative should be retested 3 months after exposure to confirm results
There was a considerable amount of blood inside the syringe. So the hospital was able to test for HIV.
The doctor told me the odds were low, but I definitely had to test after 3 and 6 months.
Teak, how could you go by probability and numbers in history. A risk is a risk, no matter how small, especially when you consider a virus like HIV.
I don't know what to do. I still have to wait 11 weeks. :-(
The doctor told me the odds were low, but I definitely had to test after 3 and 6 months.
Teak, how could you go by probability and numbers in history. A risk is a risk, no matter how small, especially when you consider a virus like HIV.
I don't know what to do. I still have to wait 11 weeks. :-(
NSW 1990,prison officer Geoffrey Peace contracted HIV after being injected with HIV via syringe and died of AIDS not long after.This was documented and is believed to be the only case of this ever happening.The prisoner was mentally ill and was given an AIDS diagnosis at the time aswell.He was never offered any medication at the time and had an extremely high viral load.
Have people been infected with HIV from being stuck by needles in non-health care settings?
No. While it is possible to get infected with HIV if you are stuck with a needle that is contaminated with HIV, there are no documented cases of transmission outside of a health-care setting.
CDC has received inquiries about used needles left by HIV-infected injection drug users in coin return slots of pay phones, the underside of gas pump handles, and on movie theater seats. Some reports have falsely indicated that CDC "confirmed" the presence of HIV in the needles. CDC has not tested such needles nor has CDC confirmed the presence or absence of HIV in any sample related to these rumors. The majority of these reports and warnings appear to be rumors/myths.
CDC was informed of one incident in Virginia of a needle stick from a small-gauge needle (believed to be an insulin needle) in a coin return slot of a pay phone and a needle found in a vending machine that did not cause a needle-stick injury. There was an investigation by the local police and health department and there was no report of anyone contracting an infectious disease from these needles.
Discarded needles are sometimes found in the community. These needles are believed to have been discarded by persons who use insulin or inject illicit drugs. Occasionally the public and certain workers (e.g. sanitation workers or housekeeping staff) may sustain needle-stick injuries involving inappropriately discarded needles. Needle-stick injuries can transfer blood and blood-borne pathogens (e.g., hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV), but the risk of transmission is extremely low and there are no documented cases of transmission outside of a health care setting.
CDC does not recommend routinely testing discarded needles to assess the presence or absence of infectious agents in the needles. Management of exposed persons should be done on a case-by-case basis to determine (1) the risk of a blood-borne pathogen infection in the source and (2) the nature of the injury. Anyone who is injured from a needle-stick in a community setting should contact their health-care provider or go to an emergency room as soon as possible. Antiretroviral medications given shortly after being stuck by a needle infected with HIV can reduce the risk of HIV infection.
No. While it is possible to get infected with HIV if you are stuck with a needle that is contaminated with HIV, there are no documented cases of transmission outside of a health-care setting.
CDC has received inquiries about used needles left by HIV-infected injection drug users in coin return slots of pay phones, the underside of gas pump handles, and on movie theater seats. Some reports have falsely indicated that CDC "confirmed" the presence of HIV in the needles. CDC has not tested such needles nor has CDC confirmed the presence or absence of HIV in any sample related to these rumors. The majority of these reports and warnings appear to be rumors/myths.
CDC was informed of one incident in Virginia of a needle stick from a small-gauge needle (believed to be an insulin needle) in a coin return slot of a pay phone and a needle found in a vending machine that did not cause a needle-stick injury. There was an investigation by the local police and health department and there was no report of anyone contracting an infectious disease from these needles.
Discarded needles are sometimes found in the community. These needles are believed to have been discarded by persons who use insulin or inject illicit drugs. Occasionally the public and certain workers (e.g. sanitation workers or housekeeping staff) may sustain needle-stick injuries involving inappropriately discarded needles. Needle-stick injuries can transfer blood and blood-borne pathogens (e.g., hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV), but the risk of transmission is extremely low and there are no documented cases of transmission outside of a health care setting.
CDC does not recommend routinely testing discarded needles to assess the presence or absence of infectious agents in the needles. Management of exposed persons should be done on a case-by-case basis to determine (1) the risk of a blood-borne pathogen infection in the source and (2) the nature of the injury. Anyone who is injured from a needle-stick in a community setting should contact their health-care provider or go to an emergency room as soon as possible. Antiretroviral medications given shortly after being stuck by a needle infected with HIV can reduce the risk of HIV infection.
Again I would ask you what the hospital suggest you do.The only case that I'm aware of where HIV was transmitted via needlestick injury outside of a health care setting was a prison guard here in Australia who was jabbed and injected by an HIV+ prisoner.
So you are saying that if blood is injected into the skin, even if not into a vein, there is a risk of HIV transmission?
No it's not the same as sharing a needle but it's something you require testing for because it's been established that the blood inside the syringe was HIV+.Take the DUO test at 4 weeks and collect a result that will be 99.89% reliable then follow up in 3 months for a final test.Blood doesn't have to be injected into the vein for transmission to take place,for your peace of mind testing will help you to move on from this.Just wondering what the hospital advised you to do.
What I meant to say/include was that I doubt you will be the first person in the world to be infected in the way that you describe.
Nobody has ever been infected through a needle stick outside of a health care setting or outside of direct sharing of injection drug equipment. The virus doesn't 'survive' (metaphorically) well outside the body and you would have had a minimal exposure.
Why is that? Isn't sharing needles the highest risk of HIV transmission?
Are you saying that I'm okay just because it did not hit a vein?
Are you saying that I'm okay just because it did not hit a vein?
I would take an HIV DUO test at 4 weeks post-exposure and then follow up at 3 months for a final test.From what you describe you are at extremely low risk of transmission.I won't worry to much about this.
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