POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: Shakur251 on January 01, 2007, 11:01:50 pm
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I had a few sewing needles in a box on the bus and a 2 kids wanted to see them so i let them. THe kids started poking themselves with the needles and drew blood. I asked them if it hurt and in reply with one of the needles he lightly poked me with it (don't know for sure whether or not he poked me with a needle that he had been pokeing himself with, but there is a posibility that he did). I didnt bleed but the very tip of the needle might of punctured my skin. My question is if I am at risk of getting HIV. Again, it was a solid needle, and i think only the tip punctured my skin(i did not bleed), but the blood on the solid needle could have been fresh blood. I'm pretty worried so can someone please answer.
Thanks
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You did not have a risk for HIV infection. Please read the "Welcome" thread and read the lessons on transmission.
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Tell them next time they feel inclined to poke you that you are going to sew their hands together. This incident hasn't hasn't placed you at risk for exposure.
Regards
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good luck, I know how scared you must be. i think you'll be just fine though.
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scaredgirl, please keep all your thoughts and guestions in your own thread.
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Why do you guys think that i'm not at risk for infection? I mean there could've been fresh blood. Can you give me some reasons.
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http://web.archive.org/web/20000621193159/http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/faq/faq5a.htm (http://web.archive.org/web/20000621193159/http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/faq/faq5a.htm) Read the last paragraph. This is one of the reasons we can be sure.
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So you're saying that I dont need to be tested and that I'm fine. Are you totally sure? B/c I think i heard from some place that fresh blood on a sewing needle carried some risks. CAn you tell me how sure you guys are. Because I dont want to be thinking of this for the next 10 years. I want to be sure.
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I'm not going to continue to go over this again and again and again. Go test, get you negative result so this can be put to an end. You were given the facts and that is all we can do. Don't come back complaining of the anxiety you have from getting the test and having to wait on the results.
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I just want to know two things
Can Hiv be transmitted with a solid/sewing needle that has Fresh blood on it?
Would HIV be able to be transmitted if only the tip of the needle pierced the skin and you didnt bleed?
I am not being redundant, no one has answered thesee questions directly yet.
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Those questions have already been answered. No matter how many times you change the wording or ask it, the answers are always no and no. So rather than continuing to repeat yourself, go get your negative test result and hopefully that will stop this obsessing.
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NO, you can not get infected in that manner with a sewing needle. And yes, I myself answered it in the very first post to you.
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Aight guys thanks for the info and help. Idont think ima get tested tho. I'm confident that I'm negative.
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Why does CDC call percutaneous exposure from a solid/sewing needle a risk (even if they call it a less severe risk) when there has been no case ever of HIV being spread by a solid needle?
Put the URL to where you said the CDC made that statement.
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THey call it a less severe risk
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/513928
Here also
www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00039830.htm
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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/513928
CDC Updates 2001 Guideline on HIV Prophylaxis Following Occupational Exposure
www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00039830.htm
Case-Control Study of HIV Seroconversion in Health-Care Workers After Percutaneous Exposure to HIV-Infected Blood -- France, United Kingdom, and United States, January 1988-August 1994
Your little stick is not what the two URLs you posted are even talking about.
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wat are they talking about?
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Hypodermic Needles.
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On the second link 5th paragraph it talks about Solid needles
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And again it involves healthcare workers with occupational exposures. ie. EMG needles, suturing needles.
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So everyone here is 100% sure that I am negative and that a sewing needle with fresh blood on it cannot transmit HIV. Because according to aidsmeds.com lesson on transmission if there is even a slight risk, you should get tested. You all are totally sure that I am at no risk whatsoever.
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You can test till the cows come home. I don't think anyone has told you not to test. Anyone that goes on and on about a non risk issue will go test and go through the process of not coming back with their results or come back so we can say, "We told you so." It's your dollar, I personally don't care if you test or not. You asked the questions and you were given the facts. Do what you have to do.
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Those of you saying there is NO risk of infection are simply incorrect and should re-asses your understanding of HIV transmission.
In this case, the risk is extremely low however, there is still risk. ANY blood to blood contact contains risk of transmission of any number of infections.
Go and get tested for the usual Heps and HIV.
As the others have all said, the most likely result from this needle will be nothing.
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Shakur, there's never been a case of transmission via a sewing needle and you aren't
going to make history by becoming the first.
"Theoretically" HIV might be transmitted in various ways. But in actuality in the real world it just doesn't happen. It's troubling that WT has stirred the worry pot by raising the issue of "extremely low" risk. Unfortunately, if you search on the net you will always find something there to confirm your worst fears, even when they are theoretical rather than actual.
Your situation is really about what ifs. What if one of the children was HIV+ and what if some of his blood got on to the needle and what if that needle punctured you while the blood was still viable, etc., etc.
I don't see any need for testing. Bbut if you need to do that for your peace of mind then by all means go ahead and get tested to collect the inevitable negative result.
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wtgr,
You are in no position to give advice on this forum. Please take your scare-mongering elsewhere. Any further posts of this nature will be deleted, and you're running the risk of being banned. Thank you for your cooperation.
Ann
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It is not my intention to be scare mongering. I apologise if this is taken as such however, I stand by what I said, the infection potential is EXTREMELY LOW. This is NOT scaremongering and don't understand how it can be considered as such.
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wt,
See, there you go again. This is not a low risk situation, not even EXTREMELY LOW. It is a NO risk situation. "Theoretical risks" just don't happen in the real world.
Please do not hijack this thread further. Thank you for your cooperation.
Ann
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Ann and Andy thanks for the support, it really helps. But what makes you think that is a no risk situation. Is there evidence that proves this?
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CDC does not recommend testing discarded needles to assess the presence or absence of infectious agents in the needles. Management of exposed persons should be done on a case-by-case evaluation of (1) the risk of a blood-borne pathogen infection in the source and (2) the nature of the injury. Anyone who is injured from a needle stick in a community setting should contact their physician or go to an emergency room as soon as possible. The health care professional should then report the injury to the local or state health department. CDC is not aware of any cases where HIV has been transmitted by a needle-stick injury outside a health care setting.http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/hoax1.htm (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/hoax1.htm)
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Ann, so r u sure that i am at NO risk watsoever? I might be pestering you, but i just want to be certain and it seems like you know a lot about this stuff. ANd do you have proof or an example tha this is so. Would you be worried, if something like this happedned to you? Thankyou I would really love i f you could answer.
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Shakur,
No, I would not be worried if it happened to me and I would not worry if it happened to someone close to me like my daughter.
I really don't think anything we say to you is making the slightest bit of difference. If a test is what you need to prove to yourself that you weren't at risk, then test. But don't for a minute think you will be allowed to keep coming back to this forum to ask the same question over and over and over again. Keep it up and I will give you a time out to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help you need.
Please consider yourself warned.
Ann
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Is it a sign of HIV to get more frequent colds at about 1.5 - 2 years after exposure. I'm wondering if that is a symptom because I am getting a lot of colds lately like 3 colds in last 3 months and the colds last for a good 8-9 days. The colds I get though have just runny nose, sneezing, and occasional sore throat. Can some please tell me if these colds are a sign of HIV.
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Keep all your questions and thoughts in your orginal thread.
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Frequent colds are not a sign of HIV. You are noticing frequent colds simply because colds are more common this time of year. You have nothing out of the ordinary.
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Shak,
I've merged your new thread into your original thread - where you should post all your additional thoughts or questions. It helps us to help you when you keep all your additional thoughts or questions in one thread. You should have already known this by now if you'd bothered to read the Welcome thread like you've been asked to.
If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.
Please also read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
As you have been told, if you want confirmation of your hiv status, the only way to get that is through testing. Symptoms don't mean a thing.
You're still under a time out warning.
Ann
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Does a normal CBC mean that you are HIV negative?
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No a normal CBC does not tell you if you have contracted HIV or not. It has to be done by HIV testing.
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is an HIV test just a CD4 count? What if the CBC had a CD4 count
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No, the CBC does not have a CD4 count. The CD4 is an entirely different test. An HIV test is not a CD4 count. The ELISA/Western Blot are antibody tests. PCR tests are for the antigen (virus itself). The CD4 tests are regularly given to HIV + individuals to monitor them. It is a whole different matter than a regular HIV test. Are you still obsessing about the sewing needle incident or something different?
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Beleive it or not, still the sewing needle thing.
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and you all are sayin that A normal CBC means NOTHING when it comes to HIV infection??
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Exactly.
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Only an HIV-specific test taken at the appropriate time will give you a reliable answer as far as your HIV status is concerned.
Period. Really. Got it?
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Beleive it or not, still the sewing needle thing.
*Sigh* I should have known when you posted that you were confident about being HIV negative that you would be back with doubts. If it will help you move on, get tested, get your negative result and get on with your life. You could go to a place that does rapid testing and get your negative result within 20 minutes!
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I have one last question to end it all, hopefully.
Is the reason that I am at no risk because the needle didn't go deep in my skin enough to make me bleed, or b/c it was a sewing needle not hypodermic