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Hep c transmission to eye
Hi I recently was caring for a pt. Hep C+ and I went to wipe blood off of a port to draw blood. There was dry blood on the port, and the part of the choloraprep pad that I used was dry and ended up flicking a small piece of dry blood into my eye. I know the virus stay active up to 4 days in dry blood. Now I am just really concerned on my odds of transmission of the virus. Any help is greatly appreciated.
A blood splatter to the eye is about like having heterosexual sex and getting it, the chance are one in a million, unless you had an open sore on your eye, I would report it, just to have it on record, and do the blood test to make sure, but I dont think I would loose alot of sleep over this, truly most people get it from sharing needles, or transfusions before 92 homosexuals are more prone to get it because of the rupturing of the anal wall, that can cause bleeding, and well you get the picture, but your chances are slim to none, but it would mess up my mind to, so go get a simple blood test, and some people who get i can fight it off without the help of meds so good luck.
Welcome to the forum.
Technically, yes, there is a risk of transmission though blood splashes or getting dried blood from an infected person into your eye. It is not a common way to get Hep C, but it could happen.
If you have not already done so, report the incident to your supervisor and occupational health department immediately. They need to fill out a written report and you should get a copy of it. They should test you now, before any more time passes, to see if you are negative for Hep C, and then they should test you again in a few weeks. You need this record so that if you do become positive, you will have evidence that it is occupationally related.
"Needle sticks with HCV-contaminated blood: This is mostly seen in health care workers. The risk of developing HCV infection after a needle stick is about 1.8% (range 0%-10%). Very rarely, a blood splash to the eye of a worker has transmitted hepatitis C."
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hepatitis_c/page2_em.htm
Best of luck.
Technically, yes, there is a risk of transmission though blood splashes or getting dried blood from an infected person into your eye. It is not a common way to get Hep C, but it could happen.
If you have not already done so, report the incident to your supervisor and occupational health department immediately. They need to fill out a written report and you should get a copy of it. They should test you now, before any more time passes, to see if you are negative for Hep C, and then they should test you again in a few weeks. You need this record so that if you do become positive, you will have evidence that it is occupationally related.
"Needle sticks with HCV-contaminated blood: This is mostly seen in health care workers. The risk of developing HCV infection after a needle stick is about 1.8% (range 0%-10%). Very rarely, a blood splash to the eye of a worker has transmitted hepatitis C."
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/hepatitis_c/page2_em.htm
Best of luck.
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