Should I be scared??

[manthalatrice]

Hello all. I am terribly scared I may have exposed myself to Hep C, or it may be my anxiety. Ok, I am a nurse (dialysis). I was taken care of a patient and the glove ripped (we have horrible gloves at this hospital). Anyhow. I washed my hands after putting him on the machine. Then standing outside the door I ate a piece of candy ( i was starving and didn't have time to eat!) Right after that his floor nurse walked up to me and said, you know he is hep c positive right?? Im like NO, I didn't see that in his chart.......they had just got the results. I feel like I washed my hands good, but what if some was still on my hands when I ate the candy!? What are the odds! Should I be worried!?? That dang starburst!!!!

[Douglas Dieterich, MD]

Would not be worried about the oral exposure if there even was one. However using the diabetic lancet can be a problem and you need to get tested after that exposure. The risk of transmission is less since it does not  have a hollow bore, like syringes, but still represents a risk. Got get tested

[roothang]

I recently like a fool used a diabetic lancet used by a person who was diagnosed with hep c. What are my chances of contracting it?

[MIBunny55]

Hope I don't put my foot in my mouth, but here goes.  Sounds as if you did use Universal Precaution measures, contact is blood to blood - so if neither one of you had an open wound and no bleeding, it certainly seems that you should be okay. As far as your comment ". . . but what if some was still on my hands when I ate the candy . .  .", you need to ask yourself what is this "some"??? Like invisible germs??  Then if you ate the candy, it went through your digestive system -- remember - it is blood to blood contact, not tainted blood to digestive fluids . . . .I hope this makes sense for you.  Personal opinion: don't worry too much, contact your Doctor and maybe you can have some blood tests done. The body fluids that are most dangerous contain high levels of red blood cells, but fluids like urine, spit, sweat, and others contain very small amounts of red blood cells lowering risk levels.  Hey, ""Starburst"" sounds pretty good right now, hope you enjoyed yours!!  ; )