HIV needle stick infection rate

AI Thread Summary
A caretaker accidentally pricked her finger with a needle used on an HIV patient, raising concerns about the risk of HIV infection and the effectiveness of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). The risk of contracting HIV from a needle stick injury is approximately 0.3%, but this can be reduced by up to 80% with immediate treatment using antiretroviral drugs like AZT and lamivudine. PEP should ideally be started within hours of exposure, with some experts suggesting it may still be beneficial up to 7-14 days post-exposure in high-risk cases. Regular HIV testing is recommended at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months after the incident to monitor for potential infection. Factors influencing infection risk include the volume of blood, depth of the injury, and the health status of the source patient.
Monique
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
4,211
Reaction score
68
A friend of my mother is a caretaker and accidentially stuck herself in the finger with a needle used on an HIV patient. It probably won't be until 6 mo from now until it can be diagnosed whether an infection has taken place.

I was wondering, what are the chances that HIV is contracted and is anti-viral therapy post-exposure a thing to do?
 
Biology news on Phys.org
Does this make sense?

Back to the statistics: the average rate of infection for the three viruses after a NSI from a syringe containing fresh blood from a known infected source is up to 30% for HBV, 3-5% for HCV and 0.3% for HIV.
http://archive.mail-list.com/hbv_research/msg01985.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
HBV and HCV are hep b and c, respectively?
 
Hepatitis B Virus and Hepatitis C Virus, yup :)
HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus
 
Aren't there drugs available to those that have been exposed in a 12-24 hour time-frame that dramatically lowers the odds of being infected?
 
I was under the same impression, a drug is given immediately which makes the person extremely sick for a couple of days, but it prevents the infection.

nautica
 
Depending on who you ask she has a .3% or 1.5% chance of acquiring aids from the needle stick but you can reduce those chances a further 80% by taking AZT for four weeks after exposure. However, with the AZT resistance rate and if the person is already on AZT for 6 months, the new recommendation is now AZT and lamivudine for post exposre prophylaxis. (PEP)


Risk is higher if there is a large volume of blood,
If the injury is deep,
If the instrument is of a hollow bore nature (e.g. syringe needle) and was previously in the source patient's vein or artery,
If the blood is actually injected,
If the source patient has clinical AIDS, or
A low CD4 cell count and/or
A high HIV RNA viral load (titre).



PEP is initiated within hours after the exposure. (This is what I did for myself as an Intern 10 years ago and I am still HIV neg after alll these years) The interval after which there is no benefit from using PEP is not yet defined, however some ID (infectious disease) folks consider 24–36 hours as being too late. Some infectious disease specialists still consider PEP 7–14 days after the exposure in cases where there is highest risk exposures.



An ELISA HIV test should be done and documented on the exposed health care worker at baseline (i.e. within 24 hours of the injury), at 6 weeks, 12 weeks and at 6 months. (In rarer instances seroconversion can take place over a longer period than 6 months).

.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Meet Ryan_m_b: A Lifelong Love of Science & Nanomedicine
Replies
17
Views
4K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top