He was cachexic. I thought he was having some sort of malignancy.
The veins in his antecubital fossa were big and fat and looked as if they would burst at any time. I held the syringe with great confidence and as the needle sank into one of the veins, my course-mate, Lady Yong, shrieked," Darren, be careful! RVD (retroviral disease) positive!"
I panicked. My hands trembled a little and blood was oozing out from the puncture site. And the horrifying thing was, I could see blood on my left hand and I wasn't wearing gloves.
I finished the blood-taking within the next 10 seconds and rushed to wash my hands thoroughly and checked every inch of my hands for any minute wound through which the human immunodeficiency virus could have gained entry into my bloodstream.
I flipped thorough his case notes and was extremely petrified to discover he's immunocompromised. I took a detailed history from him after washing my hands for like 10 times. On physical examination, he had oral thrush (a common opportunistic infection in the immunocrompromized) and enlarged liver and spleen. His lungs were bad, with crepitations all over. They thought he was having miliary tuberculosis or Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia. I prayed hard that the doctors were all wrong. Nevertheless, to my horror, his HIV test result came back positive a few days later.
There was no needle-stick injury. Even if there was, the chances of my getting infected would not exceed 1 % as the viral load was too low. Yet, for the past 1 year, I couldn't help feeling anxious and having the hypochondriatic delusion that I was HIV-positive despite the evidence to the contrary. Every time someone talked about AIDS or HIV, I became restless and catastrophized whatever thoughts that came to my mind. Isn't it devastating to know that you might be HIV-positive before you really get the chance to have sex in your life?
However, now, I can proudly announce my HIV status as the test result came back negative a few days back. It's part of the medical check-up required by the university in which I'll spend one month doing my elective posting in May.
Lessons learnt: Never take blood without wearing gloves. And never fuck without a condom.
Fact: Hepatitis B virus is 100 times more infective than HIV.
It's kinda scary... the risk is always there. Glad you're OK.
ReplyDeleteI'm as relieved as you. Wear gloves for all future blood taking ok? No matter what the HO or MO say.
ReplyDeleteThank God you are all right. Have to always be careful. Never compromise your safety whatever the cost is. This is another occupational hazard for those working in this field. It would have been a real shame to be infected through no fault of yours. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're fine. ^_^
ReplyDeleteGeeez, with both Blue and your posts, I think I'll start to keep rubbers within reach.
+Ant+
i wear gloves also can get needle prick injury..luckily a paeds patient...just becareful lo and never recap the needles..
ReplyDeletewhich is riskier, i.e more prone to get STDs, oral sex or anal sex? i'm just curious, cuz i've never done both cuz i'm too scared and a little phobic about getting infected.
ReplyDeletewilliam, yeah it was really scary...
ReplyDeletelittle dove, yeah i definitely will. hehe. u too.
carpe diem, yeah yeah i learnt my lesson.
anton, u? rubbers? i didn't know u were sexually active at the moment. lol.
blue, err, it's an adult patient la. it happened last year.
anonymous, anal sex is riskier coz the anus is not meant for sex and it gets injured more easily n the viruses can get in.
ReplyDeleteoral sex is not that risky provided u don't have any oral ulcers through which the viruses can get in. i mean, if u r the one performing it.
thanks, last question, does a toothache amount to ulcer? if so, should I be extra cautious if I wanna do oral sex with my virgin partner?
ReplyDeletebtw, like ur blog n hope d best for ur future