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Contamination Risk during blood draw
Hi,
I hope I’m not bothering anyone. I had a question to ease my mind. I am a mother and I breastfeed, so I am a little worried of exposure. I went to have labs done at a diagnostic center. The nurse who drew my blood had on gloves, however she cleaned a blood stain from the tin she used to hold the blood vials and other items she needed for my blood draw. She used a alcohol wipe, but did not change her glove(she did throw the used wipe away). Now, I know the gloves are ppe and really for the nurse to protect herself. My concern is that after she cleaned the spot, she used a new wipe to clean my arm and then she then touched my arm to prepare my vein with her gloved hand. Is there a risk present or should I not worry? If this goes against rules, I am sorry.
I hope I’m not bothering anyone. I had a question to ease my mind. I am a mother and I breastfeed, so I am a little worried of exposure. I went to have labs done at a diagnostic center. The nurse who drew my blood had on gloves, however she cleaned a blood stain from the tin she used to hold the blood vials and other items she needed for my blood draw. She used a alcohol wipe, but did not change her glove(she did throw the used wipe away). Now, I know the gloves are ppe and really for the nurse to protect herself. My concern is that after she cleaned the spot, she used a new wipe to clean my arm and then she then touched my arm to prepare my vein with her gloved hand. Is there a risk present or should I not worry? If this goes against rules, I am sorry.
Your situation involves personal contact with an object in air (needle, finger etc. which is not a risk for hiv.) No worries, because you can't get hiv from personal contact except unprotected penetrating vaginal or anal, neither of which you did and you didn't share hollow needles to inject with which is the only other way to acquire hiv. Analysis of large numbers of infected people over the 40 years of hiv history has proven that people don't get hiv in the way you are worried is a risk.
HIV is a fragile virus in air or saliva and is effectively instantly dead in either air or saliva so the worst that could happen is dead virus rubbed you, and obviously anything which is dead cannot live again so you are good. Blood and cuts would not be relevant in your situation since the hiv has become effectively dead, so you don't have to worry about them to be sure that you are safe.
There is no reason for a person to test when they are safe, so move on back to your happy life. If you could get hiv this way, the nurse would have infected thousands before you and the clinic would have stopped it.
HIV is a fragile virus in air or saliva and is effectively instantly dead in either air or saliva so the worst that could happen is dead virus rubbed you, and obviously anything which is dead cannot live again so you are good. Blood and cuts would not be relevant in your situation since the hiv has become effectively dead, so you don't have to worry about them to be sure that you are safe.
There is no reason for a person to test when they are safe, so move on back to your happy life. If you could get hiv this way, the nurse would have infected thousands before you and the clinic would have stopped it.
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Thank you so much!
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