Medical interns have one of the highest risks among all health-care workers for accidental HIV infection through needlestick injuries, according to a recent study (news.yahoo.com/The Indian Express, 10/24).
The three-year study, conducted at the Sassoon Government Hospital (SGH) in Maharashtra, India, and cosponsored by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, found that of all needlestick injuries during that time period, medical interns were the most likely to be accidentally stuck, followed by resident doctors.
At least 100 interns and resident doctors at SGH suffered needle stick injuries and had to take prophylactic HIV meds. None of them tested positive for HIV.
The risk of HIV transmission through needlestick injuries is 0.3 percent, according to the study’s principal investigator, Dr A. L. Kakrani.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
