How to deal with being stabbed by sharp objects suspicious of HIV blood

Usually people panic so try to squeeze out all the blood. This action inadvertently causes additional inflammatory lesions, increasing the likelihood of viruses entering the body.

Analyzing the case from a medical perspective related to the risk of HIV infection, Dr. Nguyen Tan Thu said, usually when being stabbed by a sharp object with blood stained by an HIV-infected person, the victims are afraid of So try to squeeze out as much blood as possible. This approach is completely wrong, manipulating the stain does not reduce the risk of invading viruses, but it also intuitively creates inflammatory lesions, increasing the likelihood of viruses entering the body.

While waiting for the authorities' deterrent measures and sanctions to prevent potentially dangerous jokes from HIV infection, the Doctor advised each person to actively equip themselves with basic knowledge. HIV disease version."Instead of panic, you will be calmer and know how to manage to prevent infection in similar cases , " the doctor said.

The first concept to understand is "exposure to HIV" . Simply put, exposure is when a person comes into contact with a pathogen (here is the HIV virus), so there is a risk of infection. Exposure will give a certain rate of infection. Infection will lead to a certain disease rate.

Medicine has now found a treatment to reduce the rate of transition from exposure to HIV infection through antiviral drugs. This is called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

Artwork: Health

When exposed, initial local management is necessary, followed by post-exposure prophylaxis. Specifically, the exposure management process includes:

- Calm down, take damage-causing tools out of your body and stop bleeding. Wash the wound directly with a clean tap for at least 5 minutes to remove the infected blood and cord fluid from the wound. Then disinfect with antiseptic solutions and bandages with gauze, bandage or personal tape.

- If you have blood or secretions of an HIV-infected person in your eyes, nose, you should wash your eyes and nose continuously with clean water or saline solution (eye bottle containing Nacl 0.9%) for 5 minutes, by blinking, Soak your nose in the clean water. If shot in the lips, mouth, rinse your mouth with clean water for 5 minutes.

- In case of stabbing, absolutely not squeeze blood . Instead, wash the wound with clean water and quickly go to a medical facility.

Remember, not all HIV-related incidents can cause exposure. With this disease, the two most common exposure situations are blood sugar and sex.

- Blood sugar: When a person is stabbed by a sharp object with fresh blood, shot of a secretion or fresh blood of an HIV-infected person into the eye mucosa or wound, it is considered as an HIV-exposed condition, ie potentially infected with HIV.

- Sexual route: When sex does not use a condom, or if it is used but the bag is torn or slipped, it is also considered to be exposed to HIV.

Due to the nature of silently and difficult to identify whether a person has HIV, the concept of exposure here does not require verification that the source of the exposure is indeed infected. Only the above-mentioned risk and exposure behaviors are considered exposed.

In the above exposure situations, it is necessary to seek medical care for PEP treatment . Post-exposure prophylaxis provides very high protective efficacy, up to 90-95% in the first few hours, and remains effective for about 72 hours from the time of exposure.

The effectiveness of post-exposure prophylaxis will decrease over time. Therefore, the exposed person should quickly go to the medical facility and take treatment as soon as possible. Do not wait for a 72-hour waiting period.

Currently, medical facilities with PEP treatment include:

- Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

- Faculty of community support consultation.

- Hospital with specialized infection.

When going to a health facility, the patient will be assessed for the risk of HIV infection and assigned to preventive treatment through:

- Exposure situations: Stabbing needles, blood to the wound or sex.

- Time of exposure.

- Information on sources of exposure. In the case of a needle stick, the needle can be taken for testing.

By the above information, the doctor will give an indication of whether post-exposure prophylaxis is necessary. If so, which regimen will be used to treat.

In case the patient is sufficiently indicated for post-exposure prophylaxis, the doctor will ask:

- Quick test for HIV.

- Take ARV antiviral drugs for 28 days.

- Repeat HIV test after 1 month, 3 months and 6 months to confirm the negative status and effectiveness of PEP treatment.

In parallel with post-exposure HIV prophylaxis, patients are also encouraged to screen for other diseases with the same route of transmission (depending on the exposure situation). Such as hepatitis B, C, sexually transmitted diseases: Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chicken.Particularly in the case of stabbing objects, attention should be paid to tetanus vaccination.