Helped Over 500,000 patients with 98%+ satisfaction.

Connect & Get Personalized 1-to-1 Answers from Expert Doctors

DoctorSpring > Question Home

Finger prick with 20 gauge needle of HIV negative patient

Resolved Question:

I pricked my finger with a 20 gauge IV after I inserted the IV. It was not a deep stick. The patient tested negative for HIV. I was not given PEP. I was told by the physician at the PEPline that no source person has transmitted HIV to a healthcare worker in the window period and that a negative is considered a true negative. Guidelines also state that the exposed person does not need testing if patient tests negative. My hospital tests anyways. I tested 6 weeks(44 days) after needle stick and tested HIV negative. I am breastfeeding my baby and was told by the physician at the PEPline that I could resume breastfeeding because patient tested negative for HIV. How accurate is a 6 week antibody test? Is my test accurate? Was the patient's negative HIV test accurate?

Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist

Ask Your Own Question

Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist
 31 Doctors Online

Hello,

Thank you for asking your query at DoctorSpring.

I assume that you are Healthcare Personnel. So I hope would be aware that no tests are 100% sensitive and test results needs to be interpreted by taking pre test and post test probably into consideration. HIV Elisa test is more than 99% sensitive. That means it is highly unlikely that positivity will be missed. So you can say the test is very accurate. (Same with case of source patient). As per recommendations, since the source patient is tested HIV negative, you will not require treatment of further testing. (Further testing is only required if the sources is unknown or positive).

What you have here is sort of a 'double' confirmation in form of a negative source and your own negative test result. If you put it mathematically ( and in a practical way !) you have near zero risk that HIV transmission has occurred. So there is no need to worry, you can breastfeed as recommend by your Physician.

Hope this helps

Please feel free to ask followp questions.

Thank you


Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy
Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist
Experience: 
MBBS from Sri Ramachandra University in December 2011
M.Med (Family Medicine) - TNMGR University, Chennai
MBA-MPH in Public Health in March 2016, SRM University
Finished AFIH in March 2016, SRM University
MRCP ( UK ), Internal Medicine, Royal College of Physicians, June 2016
Fellowship in Diabetology from Martin Luther University in January 2017

Currently Resident Physician, in MD Radiodiagnosis - Kamakshi Memorial Hospital, Chennai
Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy and 4 other Medical Specialists are ready to help you

Users who read this, also read:

Make informed and better medical decisions.

Join the 500,000 people who found a smarter, quicker way to get Answers, Recommendations & Expert Opinions.

Expert Doctors at fingertips

Recommendation on next step. Second-opinion.Multi-specialty.

Save Time

Average time for answers: 6 hours.

Save Money

$35 for typical specialist consult vs. $120 for a local appointment.

Free Follow-ups

Clarify, ask further questions for free in private conversation.

100% Satisfaction

Money back guarantee for the 1st reply. MEDNET Quality Board.

Start My Consultation

CHAT NOW

About DoctorSpring.com

Doctor Spring is a novel online Doctor consultation platform where you can get your medical questions answered by leading Doctors. Just Submit your question and rest assured that you will consult a Doctor easily. Once you submit the question, the Doctor from the concerned specialty will reply within hours. You can always ask more questions or add details with follow-up question options and make it an online doctor chat. You may use this service to consult a specialty or for getting medical second opinion. All paid services come with a MEDNET quality assurance and 100% money back guarantee.

DoctorSpring in news