concerned

[kls1987]

i work in healthcare and i have a 79 yr old patient that is believed to have hepatitis c. In a recent accucheck, i believe that a bit of his infected blood splashed up into my eye. his labs and liver enzymes have been normal, in fact a little low, for over a year. It is hear say that he has the hcv. no other symptoms present. What are the chances of contracting hcv from this incident?

[Bill1954]

I agree wholeheartedly with ladywas; while the risk for transmission is low, any exposure like this should be reported to your supervisor. Anytime blood is transferred you’re at risk for diseases other than HCV as well. If the supervisor feels it’s warranted, they will initiate appropriate post exposure prophylaxis, and review your personel file for vaccinations etc.

The CDC estimates risk of transmission via IV needle stick in health care workers to be between .5 and 4.0% per incident; this is with a known infected patient. The odds of contracting HCV as you describe it are quite low.

Best of luck to you,

Bill

[ladywas]

I hoped you reported this to your supervisor.  Your procedure manual must list the steps that you are to take when something like this happens.

With Hep C I would think that you should be ok, but report it anyway.

[Bill1954]

http://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/Settings/GlucoseMonitoring.htm