Blood draw and sharps containter?

[worriedfromblood]

I was getting a blood test done and I am worried about something the nurse did that may have exposed me to hep c or some other infectious disease. Before drawing my blood, she was getting my paper work in order. The papers touched the inside of the lid of the sharps container (the lid was wedged open since it had a panel at the bottom of the opening the opening where you would insert the sharps). She grabbed the part of the paper that had touched the sharps container with her bare hands and then proceeded to put on her gloves, grab the gauze and palpitate my veins to start the blood draw. When she had put on her gloves she grabbed the fingers of the gloves with the same hand that had handled the paper. I am worried about possible HCV contamination from the paper to her bare hands to the gloves as a result of touching the inner lid of the sharps container. She was touching my skin at the puncture site with her gloves before inserting the needle and also handled the gauze used to cover the wound. While I did not see any blood on the paper, her hands or the gloves, I am not sure if there is any risk. I have read that HCV can remain infectious for weeks on surfaces, even in tiny quantities so I am worried there is a chance of infection.

I was hoping someone in the healthcare field could let me know from their experience, whether I should be concerned.

[Lynn K]

We here are a community of patients who are or were previously infected with the hep c virus. The majority here are not health care professionals. This is primarily an online support group who come together to share our experiences and offer our experience and encouragement.

That being said Hep c is not easily contracted I am reasonably confident you are not at risk.

If you are concerned wait 12 weeks to be tested for hep c antibodies.

I sincerely doubt you are at any risk from what you have described. Really there is no way to quantify your risk but unless you had hep c infected blood enter your blood stream you are not at risk.

Even when a health care worker experiences an accidental needle stick involving a patient with known hep c the odds of transmission are only about 1.8% so your odds would be significantly less than that as you do not know if hep c infected blood was present as only about 1% of the population has hep c. And it is unlikely any blood entered your bloodstream.

If you want to speak with someone in the health care field you should speak with your doctor.

[worriedfromblood]

Thank you for the quick reply. I realize when I explain the situation that the risk is low. What had me worried  even though I didn't actually see any blood contamination was that a sharps container was involved. Thank you for the reassurance. I struggle with anxiety and while this does not quiet it completely it does help a bit. I will try my best to ease my worries on this.

[Lynn K]

Are you being treated for anxiety? I believe there are medicines that may help and also speaking with a counselor. Treating the medical condition that you actually have which is anxiety can greatly improve your quality of life.

Just to add Hepatitis c is very treatable today with cure rates around 98% it is not like it was just a few years ago with long difficult treatment that only worked about 30% of the time.

With the recently developed medicines Hep c does not have to be something to feared any more.

Best of luck to you.

[worriedfromblood]

I have been working with a counselor yes. Anxiety can be very frustrating to deal with it is true. That is something I have to remind myself as well, that my anxiety is not actually doing my body any good. Thank you for your kind reply.