Re: should I worry about hepatitis c?

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:42:03 -0700, dacconverter <seagate1556@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Aug 4, 9:19 pm, greyhackles <greyhack...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



So, you have two issues you're worried about, yes? Obviously, whether you
managed to infect yourself is the big one; but there's also your concern about
how this episode reflects on you in the eyes of the administration, if you
report what happened (and particularly, that you grabbed a suture needle
without using forceps).


Occupational exposures are always accidental mishandling, and I'm not
concerned about how I'll be seen by the admin.

Then report the incident and get it off your conscience.

But what you think is the likelihood I've been affected with hep c ? I
know that the risk for HIV is even lower but should I worry also about
HIV?

I've been saying all along I think it's quite unlikely you've been infected.

Like I said, I was suturing up a wound without hemostats and manually
touched the sharp end of the suturing needle and passed it from one
part of the wound to another. The wound was bloody at the time and the
patient had elevated liver enzymes. I checked closely for any tears on
my gloves and injuries on my fingers. I didn't find any and I didn't
bleed. But I'm worried that the sharp end of the needle could have
punctured my gloves and pierced the skin of a finger and caused a
little bleeding to the extent where these are not visible to the human
eye.

I was also breathed on alot by the patient.

Please...As a health care provider, you really should be smarter than this.

How much should I worry? And suppose that a healthcare worker actually
does contract HIV or hep c. Would this really put his job on the
line ? ( I don't imagine how it could be since it's difficult for a
patient to get infected from a provider )

If your administration took any hostile action against someone infected with
either HCV or HIV on the job, find yourself a good lawyer and sue them under
the federal ADA laws. You'll clean up big time.

As for a patient being infected by a provider: clearly, in the past, at least,
that wasn't all so rare an event. Universal precautions works for both sides
of the patient/provider fence.

by any chance, were you also ever injured on the job?

Yes, but nothing as "interesting" as your case. I got flattened by a computer
rack that decided to try to take me out...

/greyhackles
.

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