I was donating blood and was all set up with the needle inserted and donation going and then the person donating next to me finished. The phlebotomist was tearing down his station and I wasn’t paying too much attention, but something hit my arm that had my needle inserted and she apologized and then continued cleaning his station. I didn’t see what it was, but if it was something contaminated with his blood and hit where my exposed needle was, would that put me at risk? Or no, since the needle was already injected into my arm? I’m getting confused trying to sort through the facts. It sort of looks like it’s no risk, but again, I figured I’d ask someone who knows more than myself. Thank you.
Lynn K:
Very, very unlikely. You don’t know what brushed your arm. Your wound from the blood draw needle is essentially sealed from entry. Most people donating are healthy at least to the best of their knowledge. Less than 4% of the population has hep c. Had you received a needle stick from someone with known hep c your odds of infection are about 1.8%
Thanks for supporting your community through your donation to your local blood bank.
CJones:
Thank you so much for your quick response!
What do you mean the wound is essentially sealed?
Lynn K:
From what I understood from your suscripción the wound of your needle site is blocked by the needle still being in the place. To enter your blood stream you need to have an open fresh wet weeping wound. So say the needle had just been removed and then some how blood landed on that fresh open wound. But even it that were the case the odds would still be negligible. Hep c infected blood needs to enter the blood stream of an uninfected person to be transmitted.
CJones:
Ohhhhh, I understand what you mean. Yes, you’re correct, the needles was in place. What about when they removed it? Am I correct that it pretty much needs to be forced in to enter the bloodstream as well? That’s part of where I was getting confused with my facts.
I also think I’m extra anxious with all of this craziness in the world right now, so thank you for bearing with me.
All in all, if this were you, would you be concerned at all?