acupuncture

[baxter26]

Hi, thank you for your time and expertise.

I am a regular blood donor and I had acupuncture 10.5 months ago to help my wife and I conceive a child. When I went to donate my blood again they said I had to wait for 6 months due to there being some cow boy acupunctarists that re use needles!!! This really upset me as I never associated a risk from acupuncture. When I went for my last acupuncture treatment I noticed a single needle on the side opened. Before I had chance to question this the chinese doctor put it in me. As the doctor did not speak english (didnt fill me with confidence) I had to speak to head office where they said she had opened one too many needles on the last patient. They said it was extremely bad practice but they can assure me everything was fine. I give blood after 6 months and everything was negative but they said they will continue to test each donation twice until 12 months has passed. My questions to you are, how long is the maximum window period for HIV?- I have seen people on this forum talking about upto 12 months and even upto 2years- late converting, and what is the chances of being positive after 10.5 month negative?
In my mind I know there is nothing wrong but I hate the thought of the needle being in the room while someone else was in there before me. I have run through lots of different scenarios in my mind. This especially scares me as my wife and I are trying for a baby and I want to continue to donate my blood in the future. I just wanted to ask a doctor for my own peace of mind.
Many thanks

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

It doesn't happen.  Pay no attention to nonprofessional personal claims on the web.

[baxter26]

Thank you so much for helping me to look at things logically and I realise I have been completely over reacting. I should have posted this question to you before I read the forum.

The most worrying thing I saw was examples of people sero converting 12-18 months post exposure. Would that only happen to people with a severely depressed immune system or on medication? Or are they simply unheard of/ not true?

This is my last question, thank you for your time. Baxter

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Of course I cannot comment on whether the acupuncturist is consistently using proper infection control technique.  But it amkeas no difference in seroconversion window.  Blood donation services are hyper-conservative, because their success in recruiting donors is critically dependent on public perceptions of safety and the importance of a safe blood supply.  That they stick with a 6-12 month window doesn't mean that shorter intervals are not reliable. There simply is no chance you have HIV with a negative test result 10 months after the last possible exposure.  Even 6-8 weeks is suffcient, and except for blood banks, no agency recommends testing any further than 3 months after exposure.  On top of all this, for you to be at risk for HIV, you have to assume not only that an acupuncture needle was re-used, but that the previous client had HIV.  The risks are simply too small to lose sleep over.

Of course your emotional reaction about needles being in the same room before your acupuncture treatments has no basis in fact.  Intellectually you know is nonsense.  Snap out of it.  Or find a different acupuncture clinic.

Good luck--  HHH, MD