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ExGirlfriend + Healthcare Worker + Needlestick
Hi, my ex-girlfriend is a healthcare worker and deals with Hiv+ patients on a daily basis. In the midst of when we started dating (8 weeks ago) she showed up one day with a huge wrapped tissue serving as a band aid around her index finger. I asked what happened, and she told me she got a needlestick from an Hiv+ patient. She was drawing blood from him and he jerked his arm and she stuck the needle on her finger. According to her, the incident was meaningless and part of her life as a blood analyst. She didn't even remember if she bleeded or not. Concerned about it, I asked then, for what reason she had a huge "band aid" around her finger. According to her, so as not to infect other patients with possible HEPS throughout the day.
Well, the incident was forgotten and soon after we started having sex, protected at first but then unprotected (apart from this incident which I totally had forgotten, she was definitely 0 risk partner from her history.Also, she got tested the day of the incident and came back negative which proved her history was 0 risk). For the following weeks we would get together on weekends and have a very high sex drive, and each session would last for long times varying between lovemaking and rough sex (enough to leave penis slightly swollen the next day).
Anyway, I had some trust issues with her, and so the incident with the needlestick came back to haunt me. I've been visualizing, on a daily basis, the incident occurring and how it occurred. What concerns me is that I really don't know how deep she stuck the needle, or if the needle had any visible blood, or if she bled at all. I do think about the huge "band aid" and how it was there to stop bleeding, after all it's what we always do when he have an open cut, try to make it stop bleeding by compressing some tissue against it. When I confronted her about it again, she said the incident was so insignificant that she was advised by her colleagues to not even report it (she did report it however and although her patient was HIV+ he was negative for any HEPS). I dont think she took PEPS (I would of known if she did), I don't know if this is the normal procedure where I'm from (Western Europe). Anyway, like I said, I was having trust issues with her and couldn't really take her word and her story for it.
We've broken up now and It's been 4 weeks since my last unprotected sex session with her, I'm still waiting to hit the 6 week window to get my first test, but as I try not to think about it, and read about the .03% needlestick chance and the low risk from vaginal sex (btw she never had any abnormal secretions nor we had sex during her period), I am developing a fever and beginning of flu like symptoms as I write this. The thing is, I hardly ever get sick, even through the harshest winters or even hanging around other sick people. So, yeah, I'm concerned.
What concerns me:
1) If indeed she got infected with that needlestick, that she was most contagious in the period we had sex.
2) That some of the sex might of been rougher and so more potential for "fluid bonding"
3) That if she was drawing blood from the patient, it definitely came from a vein or an artery (according to reports, risk is higher in needlestick cases)
4) That I'm in bed feeling sick and having some sweats as I write this.
5) Even more as I just remembered she had a case of Pharyngitis and needed a shot of morphine.
What do you guys think are my risk factors ?
Well, the incident was forgotten and soon after we started having sex, protected at first but then unprotected (apart from this incident which I totally had forgotten, she was definitely 0 risk partner from her history.Also, she got tested the day of the incident and came back negative which proved her history was 0 risk). For the following weeks we would get together on weekends and have a very high sex drive, and each session would last for long times varying between lovemaking and rough sex (enough to leave penis slightly swollen the next day).
Anyway, I had some trust issues with her, and so the incident with the needlestick came back to haunt me. I've been visualizing, on a daily basis, the incident occurring and how it occurred. What concerns me is that I really don't know how deep she stuck the needle, or if the needle had any visible blood, or if she bled at all. I do think about the huge "band aid" and how it was there to stop bleeding, after all it's what we always do when he have an open cut, try to make it stop bleeding by compressing some tissue against it. When I confronted her about it again, she said the incident was so insignificant that she was advised by her colleagues to not even report it (she did report it however and although her patient was HIV+ he was negative for any HEPS). I dont think she took PEPS (I would of known if she did), I don't know if this is the normal procedure where I'm from (Western Europe). Anyway, like I said, I was having trust issues with her and couldn't really take her word and her story for it.
We've broken up now and It's been 4 weeks since my last unprotected sex session with her, I'm still waiting to hit the 6 week window to get my first test, but as I try not to think about it, and read about the .03% needlestick chance and the low risk from vaginal sex (btw she never had any abnormal secretions nor we had sex during her period), I am developing a fever and beginning of flu like symptoms as I write this. The thing is, I hardly ever get sick, even through the harshest winters or even hanging around other sick people. So, yeah, I'm concerned.
What concerns me:
1) If indeed she got infected with that needlestick, that she was most contagious in the period we had sex.
2) That some of the sex might of been rougher and so more potential for "fluid bonding"
3) That if she was drawing blood from the patient, it definitely came from a vein or an artery (according to reports, risk is higher in needlestick cases)
4) That I'm in bed feeling sick and having some sweats as I write this.
5) Even more as I just remembered she had a case of Pharyngitis and needed a shot of morphine.
What do you guys think are my risk factors ?
Just want to close this thread and say that after waiting for 3 months to properly get tested, it was negative for a 4th generations MEIA & EIA, and negative CMIA.
According to my Doc, there have been some numbers studied and the chance of her getting infected through needlestick would account for .03%
All the best to everyone.
According to my Doc, there have been some numbers studied and the chance of her getting infected through needlestick would account for .03%
All the best to everyone.
Sorry Teak and others for bringing this thread up again. I still don't get what you mean by unprotected sex risk. She tested negative on the day she got needlesticked, meaning her history was clear. If you say I am at risk because I had unprotected sex, then the risk relates to exactly my fears, that she got infected with the needlestick and passed it on to me. I would get tested immediately however I am still at 4 weeks from last exposure.
Hi Teak,
Sorry, I meant Penicillin shot for pharyngitis.
Thanks for you reply. So you mean my risk was from unprotected sex alone not taking into the equation whether she was needlesticked or not ?
Thanks again.
Sorry, I meant Penicillin shot for pharyngitis.
Thanks for you reply. So you mean my risk was from unprotected sex alone not taking into the equation whether she was needlesticked or not ?
Thanks again.
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