Accidental needle injury

[justhuman]

Dr. I was over at a prop-shop picking up props for my movie and I was at the medical section where they had needles out in the open, I did not know they were real and I accidentally grabbed one and got pricked by the tip of the needle. The needle looked cleaned but not new, it's been used before by other filmmakers and I did not saw any blood on the tip or inside of the needle. However there were other needles with fake blood. The incident happed on my finger, I did not bleed but it did hur. Dr. Have I exposed my self to HIV, if the needle happens to be used? Please help I'm really scared.

[justhuman]

Last question, should I leave this incident behind, because I am still really anxious.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I thought that might be the case.  Glad to hear it.  EWH

[justhuman]

Hey dr. I spoke to the owner of the prop house and I discussed the incident with him. He assured me thAt I was not in any danger of catching HIV or anything because those needles have never been used in a medical field, he said hat hose needles are used on-set and not for any other reasons. He also said that they sit on the shelves for a while and that they are only used for movies. I assuered me I had nothing to worry about.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

OK.  EWH

[justhuman]

I will go to the prop-shop tomorrow and ask about the needles then if it's ok I will let you know what happened.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

It is difficult to quantify the risk to you of an exposure such as this precisely but it is most likely rather low..  You do not know if the needle had been used but this is unlikely.  It would be a huge procedural error for anyone to use used needles as props for a movie.  IN addition, had someone been stuck with the needle in the past, the chances that they have HIV are quite low.  Finally, even  if there had been a stick (we are now on improbable "what if" no. 3) the any blood is likely to have been dried and thus would not contain living HIV virus.  When you put all of these factors together, the risk of HIV from this exposure is very, very low.

Suggestions:
1. Discuss the accident with the prop shop manager.  He/she may be able to clarify the history of needles in the medical section.  I'll bet they are unused.  Also, he/she may have liability insurance, just in case.
2.  Get tested.  In my opinion, this is more for your peace of mind that because of any great risk to you of HIV.  I would get tested at 6-8 weeks following this exposure.  At that time you can have confidence that the negative result that I am confident you will get means that you did not get infected from this accidental stick.

If you learn more about the needles in the shop (rather than guessing) I suspect you will feel much better.  EWH