Blood Donation Worries

[winkawak]

Had a blood donation today I asked the nurse to open the package in front of me and i noticed bunch of water droplets like condensation in the bag. I asked her about it and she said every bag is like that due to something in the bag.I didnt understand fully or remember her explanation was. Have you seen this? the bag was sealed but had condensation in it.

Another thing i noticed is blood test tubes, every 3 test tube is wrapped around with rubber bands sitting in the bin full of test tubes thats not from the package. I also noticed 1 set of the test tubes had water droplet condensation in it but i forgot to ask when i was there. How likely is that they reused the blood test tubes and is it possible to transmit hiv or hep c with used test tubes?

The last worry i have is the gauze pad thats used on the needle puncture wound. The nurse who drew my blood wore gloves but while in the process of collecting blood she went off doing other things like packaging test tube boxes and input stuff on her computer. At the end of the blood draw she folded my gauze pad before withdrew the needle, my worry is If there was surface contamination on the stuff she touched and then touching my gauze pad thats touching my wound would this transmit hiv/ hep c?

[Lynn K]

How likely is that they reused the blood test tubes

Entirely not likely simply not done.

and is it possible to transmit hiv or hep c with used test tubes?

No

If there was surface contamination on the stuff she touched and then touching my gauze pad thats touching my wound would this transmit hiv/ hep c?

No hep c must enter your blood stream it would need to be forced inside your body measly laying on the surface of your skin would not accomplish this.

Hep c is not easily transmitted.

[winkawak]

Is there any study suggests have hep c on top of bleeding wound does not pose a risk? All the article i have read states blood to blood contact which is whats happening with dirty contaminated glove touching wound and gauze it technically blood on blood mixing.

[Lynn K]

There are no studies because this is not a risk. The virus needs to enter your blood stream inside your body not solely lay passively on top the virus does not swim inside your body it has to be forced inside into your blood stream

[winkawak]

I find it hard to believe or reasonable that possible contaminated blood touching open bleeding wound(needle puncture site to blood stream) wont cause transmission

[Lynn K]

Believe what you wish.

No evidence of transmisssion in this manner.

If you want a medical opinion ask a doctor or other medical person. This forum is a support group for people who have or had hep c and are undergoing or have undergone treatment to support each other through our own experiences with medications and dealing with insurance.

We cannot diagnosis any medical condition. Neither can we do anymore than you can do relative to risk of contracting hep C except to research reputable sources of information as we are a community of lay persons of patients and not medical persons of any type.

I have given you my opinion of your risk but that is exactly that my opinion. If you want a better answer ask your doctor but I am willing to bet they tell you the same thing. 

[lporterrn]

There is no risk.
1) The condensation is normal. They put chemicals in the tubes/bag that are used to stabilize the blood.
2) The needle is coming out of you, not going in to you
3) Even if the gauze was contaminated, there would need to be a lot of virus on that, and it would have to be pushed into your vein.
4) And even if that happened, your own immune system would fight off that minuscule amount
5) Contrast it with this:  Healthcare workers who have needle sticks from patients known to have hep C rarely are infected
6) If it were that easy to get hep C, nearly all of us would have it, which we don't. Most of us who have it have an known risk factor.

[winkawak]

There is no risk.
1) The condensation is normal. They put chemicals in the tubes/bag that are used to stabilize the blood.
2) The needle is coming out of you, not going in to you
3) Even if the gauze was contaminated, there would need to be a lot of virus on that, and it would have to be pushed into your vein.
4) And even if that happened, your own immune system would fight off that minuscule amount
5) Contrast it with this:  Healthcare workers who have needle sticks from patients known to have hep C rarely are infected
6) If it were that easy to get hep C, nearly all of us would have it, which we don't. Most of us who have it have an known risk factor.

Thanks both of you for helping, i wont stress about this any longer its exhausting.
I do have some question regarding you statement about

3. I thought hep c infected blood are very high in virus and it only takes less than a drop of blood to transmit hep c.

4. Are you referring to 15-20% of people clearing hep c on their own?

[Lynn K]

3. Viral load can be as low as 15 just barely detectable or as high as millions of copies circulating in the blood of infected people. For example mine was about 2.4 million before I was cured. But that really does not matter in reguards to your question as Lucinda said if hep c was that easily contracted many more people in the US would be infected than the approximately 1% of the population.

4. She was referring to people who never become infected not the approximately 25% who once they become infected are able to beat the virus on their own without treatment.

Imagine someone who was near someone who has a cold and gets sneezed on but never gets a cold vs the person who catches a cold and later becomes well. This is an oversimplification but I assume you get my point.

[lporterrn]

Also re #3 - if you injected a mL of HCV+ blood into someone veins, yes, they might get hep C. The risk would be higher if the viral load was high. But there is a huge difference between that scenario and what you are describing.

[winkawak]

4. Wait so some people are born with immunity to hep c?
I know both of you have said it countless times now lol and i feel awful bringing it up. If hep c blood did get on my wound, both you mentioned it has to be pushed or inject into the vein but couldnt the virus just sink down or flows down to the vein from needle puncture? Wouldnt gauze touching the surface also provide barrier for hep c being wash away from my bleeding wound?

Come to think of it this is 3rd time i donated there, come to think of it last 2 times was also like this by different phlebotomist , while waiting for my blood to be drawn they went off touching everything with the same glove and never changed it. It never hit me until this time. I think the odds are on my side,
-the amount of people who has hep c
-the amount knowing they have hep c wouldnt donate blood
-if there was blood spill (hopefully has been cleaned up)
-if i didnt get it last 2 times im guessing i wont either this time but will definitely go to another location.
-in comparison needle stick from actual known hep c blood transmission are very low (1.8%) to rare

[Lynn K]

4. Wait so some people are born with immunity to hep c?

No just more resistant at least as far as we know.

couldnt the virus just sink down or flows down to the vein from needle puncture?

It has to be pushed inside your body you could probably pour hep c contaminated blood over something as small as your nearly closed needle stick and it would not enter your body although I would not suggest you try that.

The bleeding needle blood draw site is flowing outwards thus preventing for the most part anything flowing in.

I don't know how many ways you need to hear you are not at risk.

[lporterrn]

The fact that you are at a donor center also makes the risk incredibly low. First, people who go there tend to be in a lower risk group. Second, blood donation centers screen for potential risk before they take blood. Third, those few who find out they have hep C only donate once. So, although you were at no risk, even if you were, a blood donation center is a very unlikely place to find hep C on a surface.

Tacking on to Lynn's response - a healthy immune system is the best defense against hep C. We find this in people who are under age 40, especially women. Also, people who have IL28b cc as part of their genome seem to have a higher resistance.

[lporterrn]

I saw that this is the third thread you have posted regarding concerns about possible transmission worries. All of the scenarios you brought up point to a bigger problem, one best addressed by a mental health professional. Fear and worry are harmful to health and life. I hope you get help soon.

[winkawak]

Sorry ill stop and not worry anymore
Thanks both of you for your patience especially you Lynn

[andrew j]

Lucinda is not saying 'Don't raise this issue any more, here'.
She and Lynn are just saying that based on your detailed account, they see no risk.
(Neither do I, as it happens - but I prefer to express it slightly differently:
There may be a degree of risk in absolute terms (none of us were actually there) - but based on what you have written - that risk appears to be extremely remote).

You can be sure that L and L have given what you presented real consideration.
There opinions are as good as you'll find here.

There have been a few of these posts lately in reln. to what's going on in some of these labs / blood-testing situations.
To be sure - some of the practices described sound far from ideal.

In future - if you have concerns about what's going on - try to raise them at the time. It'll help to improve practice.

Otherwise, and more generally - do whatever you need to do to put your mind at
rest.

Best wishes,
A.

[andrew j]

... When I was in hospital last year in Auckland (New Zealand) they were running a campaign to improve cleanliness and sanitation in the hospital.
There were some large billboards positioned up high, pointing out that just because someone's got a pair of gloves on, doesn't mean that things are, or will remain sterile.
The correct procedures to be followed were outlined in detail.

Obviously, there are, or were some woeful practices taking place.

Maybe such a campaign is necessary in the U.S. - or in certain parts of it, anyway?

[winkawak]

Lucinda is not saying 'Don't raise this issue any more, here'.
She and Lynn are just saying that based on your detailed account, they see no risk.
(Neither do I, as it happens - but I prefer to express it slightly differently:
There may be a degree of risk in absolute terms (none of us were actually there) - but based on what you have written - that risk appears to be extremely remote).

You can be sure that L and L have given what you presented real consideration.
There opinions are as good as you'll find here.

There have been a few of these posts lately in reln. to what's going on in some of these labs / blood-testing situations.
To be sure - some of the practices described sound far from ideal.

In future - if you have concerns about what's going on - try to raise them at the time. It'll help to improve practice.

Otherwise, and more generally - do whatever you need to do to put your mind at
rest.

Best wishes,
A.

No i dont mean it like that either, i understand what L and L is trying to say.
At the time to be honest it didnt cross my mind when this happened, it just popped in my head after i left the place and the more i thought about it the more i remembered. Last 2 times i also donated there and same situation but never raised a concern for me. I definitely need to change location on where i donate, this is suppose to be stress free feel good deed.

[Mugwump]

All of us who have been infected have gone through a great deal of soul searching and years of uncertainty about how infective our secretions are.

I am a father who worried for very many years about things: like if my tears could infect my child while applying a dressing to a cut.

I assure you that worrying about infecting others for most of us becomes a way of life and that the freedom from that burden has been a God send. But even during all those years of fear and uncertainty I came to realize that the stress caused by the miss information and fud spread about the nature of HCV infection was a greater danger. Much like how segregation and prejudice is social curse the truth about how infective HCV is and the myths surrounding how the disease is spread need to be exposed for what they are, myths.

If you read deeper into the posts of many forum members who tell the tale about how they were infected, a great number where either infected by a blood transfusion, illicit drug use, or less frequently at birth. The greatest number of infected individuals world wide seems to be those who are at the greatest risk of blood to blood direct contact, especially transfusions before blood screening for HCV became a standard and also from the sharing of needles with those who are infected. And much less frequently from sexual activity or intimate contact.

Here I link to a post about the possible origins of the disease and why veterans especially of the Vietnam and Korean conflict are at over 5 times the risk of being infected with HCV than the civilian population of the US. http://forums.hepmag.com/index.php?topic=3934.0

As Lucinda has stated if the disease was as easy to spread as is thought by the general public then it would be a plague. The down side of the fact that it is not easily transmitted is that the treatment would then become a priority for governments instead of a cash cow for the pharmaceutical companies who in reality would lose money at this point if HCV was completely eliminated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKi_nP9TDiI&feature=youtu.be