Hepatitis C by touching patient with papercut??

[beachdude]

Ok, maybe I’m a bit neurotic and psychotic, but I have a question for you guys.

I once in a while have paper cuts on the palm of my hands, that I sometimes don’t notice until I wash my hands with soap and it stings.
They are usually so minor i.e. they don’t bleed, that I don’t put any band-aids on or anything like that.

Lately, I’m concerned that I might have picked up Hepatitis C/HIV or some other crazy virus through these cuts through patient contact…

I am extremely carefully and have no been jabbed, or splashed in mucous membranes with fluid…although some blood has splashed on to my cheeks (thank god I was wearing glasses) and amniotic fluid on my arm (those babies just explode outta there)..both cases my skin was intact.

My concern for transmission is that when I examine patients’ chest, and heart, I don’t wear gloves….and I was just thinking how I was touching theses patients with my hands, with these papercuts…

Also, after doing an abd, cardiac, resp exam, I sometimes forget to wash my hands (but I always wash my hands or use alcohol hand rinse if I have to do a procedure with gloves on such as a DRE) and I scratch rashes on my body that has broken skin…

Can some one please calm me down and tell me that I’m worrying about nothing?? Or should I get tested? Is there any risk assuming the patients were Hep C+ ??

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[Mirror Form]

HIV and Hep C are incredibley uncontagious. The chances of getting HIV from a dirty finger stick (assuming the patient has hiv) is 1/300, and the chances of getting hep c from a dirty finger stick (assuming the patient has hep c) is 1/30. Therefore, it's extremely unlikely that you could get either disease from just touching a patient. Remember, these diseases can really only live in human fluids. Once they're out in the environment (like skin) they won't last long.

 

[Blade28]

I'm confused. Were you in contact with the bodily fluids of these hep C patients, or are you just touching their skin?

 

[hans19]

Can some one please calm me down and tell me that I’m worrying about nothing?? Or should I get tested? Is there any risk assuming the patients were Hep C+ ??

Have you even taken microbiology or pathology?

As stated above, the risk of transmission of HIV is 1/300 from a contaminated needlestick (pt known to have HIV). The risk of from Hep C from a needlestick is 1/30. It is virtually impossible to transmit the virus with out contact with contaminated body fluids.

On the other hand,your overall lifetime cancer risk is 1/3!
Cheers!

 

[beachdude]

I'm confused. Were you in contact with the bodily fluids of these hep C patients, or are you just touching their skin?

I was just touching the skin, and to the best of my knowledge, I didn't touch any body fluids...

The thing that makes me worried is that sometimes I have these papercuts, and when I palpate the abdomen or percuss the back, I'm wondering if they did have hepatitis C or HIV, could the virus pass into my papercuts..even though I didn't really touch any bodily fluids...

I might have encountered the other patients broken skin too...broken skin meaning like dry, cracked, but no obvious bleeding...any risk with that too?? I've seen lots of attendings touch gross pedal edema with serous weeping, touch cellulitis, venostasis, even ulcers with there bare hands, and they even forget to wash there hands sometimes! And then I seem them scratch their head or eat food afterwards?? aren't they #@#@$@ worried??

Maybe I'm worrying too much...I had a friend stab herself with a contaminated with HIV and HepC 1 week ago, and its making me really really nervous....and after that incident, the amount of nurses I see doing IV's without gloves, having blood splash on their bare hands, Im surprised about how passive docs and nurses are about touching bodily fluids....

 

[ForSkin]

a guy with active tb looked directly at me and my papercuts yesterday ..... how many drinks can i have while on INH?!!!

why not encase yourself in a protective bubble or full body condom? you know, most times i'm exchanging body fluids i'm having alot of fun.

 

[mamadoc]

I was just touching the skin, and to the best of my knowledge, I didn't touch any body fluids...

The thing that makes me worried is that sometimes I have these papercuts, and when I palpate the abdomen or percuss the back, I'm wondering if they did have hepatitis C or HIV, could the virus pass into my papercuts..even though I didn't really touch any bodily fluids...

I might have encountered the other patients broken skin too...broken skin meaning like dry, cracked, but no obvious bleeding...any risk with that too?? I've seen lots of attendings touch gross pedal edema with serous weeping, touch cellulitis, venostasis, even ulcers with there bare hands, and they even forget to wash there hands sometimes! And then I seem them scratch their head or eat food afterwards?? aren't they #@#@$@ worried??

Maybe I'm worrying too much...I had a friend stab herself with a contaminated with HIV and HepC 1 week ago, and its making me really really nervous....and after that incident, the amount of nurses I see doing IV's without gloves, having blood splash on their bare hands, Im surprised about how passive docs and nurses are about touching bodily fluids....

Take a deep breath and think hard about what you learned regarding the transmission of these organisms - I assume you did learn this at some point, and are just talking yourself into worrying? Transmission is via BODY FLUIDS. The dry skin of the back or abdomen doesn't have any live HIV or HepC living on it. Live virus is IN blood, IN semen, IN mucous membranes. Not ON dry body surfaces - including your non-bleeding papercut. There is such a huge difference between a needle stick or scalpel accident and the kind of contact you're describing.

Much more important than worrying about the nonexistent possibility of getting HIV from touching someone's bare chest, is the possibility that you could be the fomite who's spreading MRSA by forgetting to wash your hands between patients. You don't need to be elbows-deep in sweat or gunk to need to wash your hands between patients fercryinoutloud.

 

[Blade28]

Agree with all of the above.

 

[Milo]

I'd keep that story for your girlfriend though: "seriously baby, I got chlamydia from this paper cut"