Assistance

[Markus1]

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I am in need for some assistance regarding a medical incident.

A friend of mine is a dental hygienist who recently was stuck by in instrument that is placed in the patient’s mouth to measure the depth of cavity. The instrument is not very sharp but with minimal force it can puncture the skin. The patient had some lacerations and ulcers in his mouth which maybe indicative of HIV infection but the patient denied any disease. In short, the instrument was originally used on the patient and was left unused for approximately 20 minutes and later was picked up by the hygienist to re-insert in the patient’s mouth but before placing it in the patient’s mouth it stuck my friend which made a small puncture through the latex glove and into the skin. The puncture was very minute and he forced it to bleed and washed it with soap and water a few minutes after the incident.

My question is, is there a chance that my friend maybe contaminated by any viruses e.g. HIV? I find this to be highly unlikely but wanted a medical opinion.

My friend was prescribed the following meds just for precautions Crixivan 2400 mg a day and Combivir 150-300 mg. 2x daily (anti HIV meds). Is this going overboard or not? My friend was prescribed these meds for 1 mo and he is young and in good health. Are there any long term side effects if only used for 1 month?

Any suggestions or opinions would be much appreciate it

 

[King Arthur]

well, first off, you're asking med students here, not doctors. in fact most of us are 1st or 2nd years, not really great pple to take advice from. that being said, it is my understanding that if needle sticks are treated w/ antiretrovirals (which your friend is now getting), than the chances of contracting HIV are miniscule. I'm sure there might be some side effects, but if it were me, i wouldn't think twice about taking the drugs. the best advice you can give your friend is to follow the advice of his doctor exactly.

 

[bananaface]

This forum is not intended to dispense personal medical advice to laypeople.

If your friend has concerns about the appropriateness of his treatment, he or she should seek the opinion of another physician. For questions about the medications he or she is taking, the dispensing pharmacist should be consulted.

Also, posting the same item on multiple forums is not permitted on this site.

 

[every1blowz]

The chance of your friend being infected with the HIV virus is very, very low. First off, the HIV virus cannot live in air for very long; at most it lives in air for about 60 seconds. This is because it needs oxygen to survive, and the amount of oxygen in air is pretty low. Second, "bleeding" the wound is not a very good idea, don’t ever do it. Third, after 20 minutes any fluid on the instrument would have dried, and HIV would have been certainly killed by then since it is an extremely fragile virus. Also, you have to take into account the virus load entering your body, which in this case is extremely low.

I would be more worried about HCV or HBV. The drugs are sort of overkill IMO, but better safe than sorry I suppose. And of course don’t ever listen to the patient, since over a third of people aren’t even aware they have HIV.

After about three months tell your friend to go get tested, just to be sure. Any sooner and the test will show up negative since you body hasn’t had time to build up antibodies yet.

And by the way, I'm not a doctor, but I am certified in HIV/AIDS knowledge.

 

[Harrie]

Was the patient tested? In these sorts of situations, both the patient and the healthcare worker need to be tested.

 

[omarsaleh66]

i remmeber in class the chance of getting HIV via needle stick is like .3% or 3% something very little. On the flip side, your friend is at more risk for hepatitis B (20-30%) chance due to needle stick.

hopefully your friend is ok. I wouldnt worry about it

 

[DrMom]

This forum is not intended to dispense personal medical advice to laypeople.

If your friend has concerns about the appropriateness of his treatment, he or she should seek the opinion of another physician. For questions about the medications he or she is taking, the dispensing pharmacist should be consulted.

Also, posting the same item on multiple forums is not permitted on this site.

closing for reasons stated above.