I am a healthcare worker. Around 6 months ago, I was taking blood from a patient and spilt a few mls of blood on my bare hand (thumb and first finger) I rinsed the blood off within a minute or 2. The skin in contact with the blood was unbroken. There was no needlestick injury. I had a very small cut which had scabbed over on my little finger of the same hand. The blood did not come into direct contact with the cut. I was taking blood for other reasons but the patient had mentioned that s/he might have HIV. They were felt to be low risk as they were unable to give a reliable history at the time. Some weeks later, I learned that the patient was in fact HIV positive. This was around 6 months ago. I dismissed the contact at the time as I know that the virus cannot pass a skin barrier, however lately I have been wrecked with the anxiety of possibly being wrong. "what if?" thoughts followed by self reassurance until the thought arises again for whatever reason. Am I worrying over nothing or should I have an HIV test?
Obviously having infected blood on you is unpalatable but I don't believe it represents a risk. If I think about the circumstances where I have resuscitated people and people have bled, poo'd, urinated, spat or vomited on me there would be countless possible exposures.
I remain HIV negative - but - if you're worried then the very obvious answer is to get tested. Isn't it? Also, depending on where and what you do in the healthcare setting, if you seriously fear a risk then you have a moral and professional obligation to be tested.
Spilt infected blood on hand
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