South African Woman Infected at Accident Scene

Lyn's Comment:  From time to time we all hear very unlikely stories of HIV infection through needles in movie theatre seats or blood in a salad.  We emphasise in our training that there are certain factors necessary for HIV transmission - Body fluids with a high concentration of virus from a HIV positive person needs to enter the body under certain conditions.

Direct blood to blood contact with open wounds in both the positive and negative individuals is one of the less likely but still possible ways in which the virus can be transmitted

A case of this nature was reported recently in South Africa.  A medical attendant treated an HIV positive patient.  Without taking the necessary precautions, he then treated another patient with bleeding wounds, who has since been diagnosed with HIV.  Medical witnessess in the court case confirmed that that she was probably infected at the time of the accident.

The judge found that the medical attendant did not take the necessary precautions to prevent infection.

This case confirms that Universal Precautions should always be taken when handling any potentially infectious body fluid.  However, the case does not show any risk of infection if necessary precautions are taken.

The basic messages remains that one should minimize exposure to potentially infectious body fluids.  The safest way to do this at an accident scene is to wear latex gloves or use a plastic bag over your hands for protection.  This case highlights that a clean pair of gloves should be used for every patient.