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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Should I Be Worried About The Pricking By Lancet?

Please help Me i was pricked by lancet and i dont know my patient serology status, i get tested after 3 months and its negative, i repeated it after 4 and half month and thank God its still negative, should i continue to be worried about it, please help me, anyway i wash and tried to all My best to cleaned my finger and blood drawn after the incident,, please help Me thank for the help...
Fri, 20 Jun 2014
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General & Family Physician,  's  Response
Hi,
Welcome to HCM!

I understand your concern and we, healthcare workers, are always at risk of such incidents.

Make sure you follow Universal precautions while dealing with all patients in the future, regardless of their serology status.

The first step that should be taken after a prick is to wash the prick site under running water for atleast 8-10 minutes and clean the site with spirit. Do not try to squeeze out the blood.
It's a good thing if you have done this.

Next, you should have then tested the serology status of your patient, atleast after this incident. If HIV positive or HBsAg positive, then necessary steps and medicines are to be taken.

Since you didn't test the patient, now its impossible to say whether the pateint was HIV positive.

Hence, I'd recommend you to keep checking your serology status every 6 months till the next few years.
Don't worry. Such incidents occurs commonly among healthcare workers.

Even if the patient was HIV positive, there's only 0.6 % chance of the disease spreading through this way.

Hope the information helps. Keep checking every 6 months.

Wishing you good health,
Regards,
Dr. Sridhar Reddy
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Should I Be Worried About The Pricking By Lancet?

Hi, Welcome to HCM! I understand your concern and we, healthcare workers, are always at risk of such incidents. Make sure you follow Universal precautions while dealing with all patients in the future, regardless of their serology status. The first step that should be taken after a prick is to wash the prick site under running water for atleast 8-10 minutes and clean the site with spirit. Do not try to squeeze out the blood. It s a good thing if you have done this. Next, you should have then tested the serology status of your patient, atleast after this incident. If HIV positive or HBsAg positive, then necessary steps and medicines are to be taken. Since you didn t test the patient, now its impossible to say whether the pateint was HIV positive. Hence, I d recommend you to keep checking your serology status every 6 months till the next few years. Don t worry. Such incidents occurs commonly among healthcare workers. Even if the patient was HIV positive, there s only 0.6 % chance of the disease spreading through this way. Hope the information helps. Keep checking every 6 months. Wishing you good health, Regards, Dr. Sridhar Reddy