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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is It Possible To Get Infected If Blood Gets Along The Side Of The Nail?

I am a nurse. While at work, I got a drop of blood on my index finger (intact skin area) that also got along the side of my nail (no obvious signs of non-intact area). The patient denied having any infectious diseases and states that he used to donate plasma and was "clean". I am just concerned about possible risks of true exposure as it got on the side of my nail. I immediately washed the area for several minutes, but I'm still concerned. According to my hospital, this is not considered a true exposure as I had no obvious signs of non-intact skin.
Mon, 7 Jul 2014
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Infectious Diseases Specialist,  's  Response
Hi,

Welcome to HCM.

Your hospital is right, your exposure can be termed as EC1 type of exposure which is minimal risk. There is no need to worry unnecessarily. The status of the patient also seems to be free from infectious diseases. EC1 type of exposure does not warrant any post exposure prophylaxis. Even if your skin was compromised, the volume of infected fluid and duration also matters in determining the risk.
As the volume of blood was very small and you washed it right away, your risk is lowered to a minimum.
Please do not get stressed about this episode but I would like to suggest you use universal precautions whenever dealing with patients.
Thanks.
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Is It Possible To Get Infected If Blood Gets Along The Side Of The Nail?

Hi, Welcome to HCM. Your hospital is right, your exposure can be termed as EC1 type of exposure which is minimal risk. There is no need to worry unnecessarily. The status of the patient also seems to be free from infectious diseases. EC1 type of exposure does not warrant any post exposure prophylaxis. Even if your skin was compromised, the volume of infected fluid and duration also matters in determining the risk. As the volume of blood was very small and you washed it right away, your risk is lowered to a minimum. Please do not get stressed about this episode but I would like to suggest you use universal precautions whenever dealing with patients. Thanks.