HIV from vials in hospitals

Hi, I recently went to doctor for white discharge from penis and he ordered Gonorrhea and Chlamydia tests. But on the same day, without waiting for test results which is supposed to come back in few days, he gave an antibiotic shot and one tablet. Later results came back negative. Now while he gave antibiotic shot I remember him taking a tube like package from one of the closets and went to a different room for few minutes and came back with the loaded syringe then came near me opened a long cap on top of the needle and injected it in my hands (possibly muscular).

1) Could I have got HIV from the drug inside the syringe which he brought from other room. Reading in internet, it looks like gonorrhea antibiotic shot is a powder and needs dilution with some liquids already stored in hospitals. Could those be contaminated in his hospital? Could those stored liquids (maybe sterile water or something) could have already been contaminated with HIV? Will they be virulent even if contaminated?

2) What are the chances to get an HIV during the blood test that was done as he ordered? My blood was drawn using a long tube.

3) Was there ever a case recorded where a patient got HIV due to above exposures?

4) Unrelated, but will a antibiotic shot affect HIV test results?

[Teak]

1. NO
2. Zero
3. NO
4. NO

[gtest]

oh teak you are a love...thanks!!

[gtest]

follow up on question 1.....i am still concerned about those stored liquids that they use to dissolve these antibiotics....since there might be a good chance they reuse those liquids multiple times as they are diluents.....i am just worried if they could already be contaminated with HIV....probably from prior patients......and the size of those vials and virulency is unknown.....he is also a doctor who treats many stds frequently and probably injected somebody else few minutes before i went in.....

[Frank303]

No chance. Like a snowdrop's chance in hell on a hot day.

There is a new OCD forum by the way

[dixter]

Protect yourself from killer hospitals

Dear Friend,

There's no place more deadly than a hospital.

This is a universal and unspoken truth in the health care community: hospitals can be lethal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 99,000 people die every year from hospital-acquired infections. And not just the sick, the elderly, or the very young.

Case in point: 27-year-old Joshua Nahum was injured during a skydiving accident. Considering he voluntarily jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, Nahum was probably considered very lucky to have escaped the incident with only fractures to his skull and femur. And over six weeks in a Colorado intensive care unit, Nahum slowly improved. Doctors declared that with a complete course of rehab, Nahum would be fully recovered in just two years. Yet just two weeks after the doctors gave him the good news, Nahum was dead. A bacterial infection he developed while in the hospital had killed him.

In the wake of this devastating (and, if you ask me, needless) tragedy, Victoria Nahum, Josh's stepmother, founded the Safe Care Campaign, the goal of which is to stop health-care- and community-acquired infections.

According to the Safe Care Campaign's Web site, the organization seeks to "instigate a crucial culture change within the American health care environment with regard to comprehensive infection prevention and hand-hygiene compliance practices."

It's shocking, but true - one of the biggest and most dangerous myths around is the sterility of hospitals. The places are awash in all manner of germs that can be devastating to people whose immune systems are compromised because they are recovering from illnesses or surgeries. Contrary to their squeaky-clean image, hospitals are far from sterile places. In fact, they're among the most hazardous with regard to infections. Remember, hospitals are where all the sick people are, which means they're where all the GERMS are.

But what's even more disturbing than this is the fact that hospitals can expose you to different germs than what you'd come into contact with in the outside world. Because bacteria can mutate so quickly, those that linger in hospitals can develop into distinct variants that can have a strong resistance to antibiotics. That makes them much more lethal than the garden-variety microbes you're exposed to every day out in the world.

Thanks to people like the Nahums and other concerned patient advocate groups, the word is getting out about the potential dangers that lie within hospitals. In addition to the Safe Care Campaign, there's also the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (CRID), which was begun by former lieutenant governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey. "You don't often come across such a big problem that you can prevent," McCaughey said.

These groups have a steep hill to climb. In addition to noncompliance to hygiene standards by hospital staffs and the bacteriological soup that's contained in hospitals, the dangers are not going away. So the Safe Care Campaign and the CRID have come up with a list of advice that patients can follow to help protect themselves when they head to the hospital.

Keep reading…
PLAY WITH YOUR OWN TOYS
Well, I suppose this applies more to your grandkids than it does to you. When you visit the pediatrician's office or if your grandchild needs to go to the hospital for a procedure, by all means, make sure they TAKE THEIR OWN TOYS. The toys and books that are there are awash in bacteria. According to McCaughey, the pediatrician's office is "one place you ought to keep your child sitting still in your lap."

MAKE NURSES AND DOCTORS WASH THEIR HANDSWashing your hands is one of the best (and easiest) ways to prevent the spread of germs. Still, not enough doctors and nurses wash their hands when going from one patient to the next. I know you might feel uncomfortably asking this, but it's wise to ask whoever is going to touch you to wash their hands before they do so - in front of you, if necessary.

BE SURE YOU'RE GETTING A FRESH NEEDLE
Again, one would assume that every hospital would follow what's really Rule #1 when it comes to syringes: that needles get used once and only once. But sadly, this is something you can't always assume. I told you recently about a Nevada clinic that routinely reused needles, which led to a hepatitis outbreak. 50,000 patients were notified and had to be tested for the disease. Don't be afraid to ask the obvious question: has that needle been used? Ask that the doctor to unwrap a fresh syringe in front of you.

BE READY FOR SURGERY
This is the big one. When you're opening up your body, all kinds of unwanted things can get in. Before the surgery, you should ask your doctor if you should prepare your skin with daily disinfectant washes. You should also request a skin or nasal swab test for the MRSA super bug - and if that test is positive, be sure that you're treated with antibiotics before your procedure. Don't let a nurse shave you - any small nicks are merely open access for bacteria to enter the bloodstream; be sure your hair is only clipped back. Double check that the doctor has ordered IV antibiotics on the day of the surgery (shockingly, this step is often forgotten).

STAY WARM
It's true: keeping warm can actually fight infection. If you're getting a hospital procedure in the winter, be sure you're dressing in warm clothes before and after the surgery, and riding around in a well-heated car. Also, ask for plenty of blankets while you're in the hospital waiting for surgery - if necessary, bring some of your own.

Your life is more in your own hands than you realize when you enter those so-called safe havens called hospitals. Victoria Nahum has learned the hard way that passivity can kill. "People need to start participating instead of just being spectators when it comes to their medical care," she said.

At the end of the day, you've got to remember this common sense warning: steer clear of the hospital unless absolutely necessary.

Shedding some light on not-so-hospitable hospitals,

[Frank303]

I don't see how you correlate "And not just the sick, the elderly, or the very young" with someone in intensive care for weeks.
Staphylococcus Aureus and Clostridium Difficile are common in hospitals and many healthy people carry these but they only really do become an infection (c.f. a colonisation) in  those who are sick, have undergone surgery or have open sores etc  

I still don't see many people using the alcohol handwashes in the hospital though, sigh.

[Teak]

This has nothing to do with HIV. Geesh.....