Email 56: Worried Nurse

Posted by Pozziepinoy on 9:50 AM

Hi Pozziepinoy, 

Good day po. Im a volunteer nurse and recently na accident po ng needlestick.. Nagwoworry ako na bka naexpose ako sa HIV hindi ko kasi alam history ng patient. Sa gamot lang po ako nagbase kasi nabasa ko ung gmot na epogen(erythropoetin injection) ginagamit din ng HIV patient dahil nagiging anemic sila because of the zidovudine (ART used by HIV infected). May 24 days na po since my exposure parang hindi ko na kaya maghintay ng window period of 3mos para malaman ko if may HIV ako.. May test po ba dito sa Manila na malalaman agad if naexposed po ako.. Ano po ba ung viral load? pwede po ba skin un? Sana matulungan nyo ko kasi sobrang worried ako dahil until now nag bebreastfeed pa ako sa baby ko.

Im looking forward for your quick response. Godbless and
More power..

XXX

POZZIEPINOY'S REPLY

Hi XXX,

Thank you for your email.

Regarding your concern, I asked Ate Ellen, one of the nurses in RITM-ARG in Alabang about it and I summarized her response below.

1. Upon needleprick, ask the patient his or her health condition as you have the right since you are a health professional. 
2. In case the patient doesn't want to disclose, you can ask the doctor about it.
3. Within 24-72 hours, in case the patient is HIV positive, you will be given a prophylaxis for HIV. This prophylaxis is provided by DOH for health professionals in case you are have an accident like this. 
4. Now in your case, to calm down your nerves you need to go and have an HIV test. You can get it in RITM Satellite Clinic in Malate, Manila so you can get the result in 2-3 hours only. Check out this link: 
5. You can also have a general check up for other infections (like Hepa B, etc) since you don't know the status of the patient.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Feel free to ask me again if you have other concerns.

Stay healthy,
Pozziepinoy

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