Can I get infected from reused gloves during blood draw?

Thanks to everyone for the replies and the concerns. I would not multi-reply so that it would not be a big post, I'll just summarize: First, as I have said, I've found disboards by googling and finding the following post (threads/worried-about-contamination-while-drawing-blood-please-help.3036951). I thought there were lot of helpful posts, so I wanted to here your opinion on similar matter.

I currently live in a small city in a developing country named Macedonia. I got high fever and was recommended to do blood work. Blood work results were ok (just for the record). The doctor said I got possibly viral infection due to strep throat. The only problem was how the blood work was done. She put belt above the vein to restrict blood flow, popped the plastic cap of a new syringe and inserted the needle without touching my vein. She got a bit off cotton, soaked alcohol on it and finally put it on top of my vein. Unfortunately, I saw the red stains of her gloves later and I did not see her changing gloves. I took a bath later when I came home. I reported the incident, there is still no response from them and I do not think that they will ever take it seriously since the healthcare currently has many other problems like MRSA appearing in some hospitals and also epidemics of measles (due to anti-vaxxers)

I see there are people giving advice ranging from "it's highly unlikely" to "go to ER". I would be happy if someone that worked in healthcare or someone with the proper education to give me advice.
 
The odds are EXTREMLY low that you have caught anything. Extremly low. Try not to worry.

I would also guess, as a PP suggested, that it was iodine on the gloves. It would be fairly unusual for blood to end up on gloves and staining just from performing a blood draw.

While in the US and some other developed countries the standard procedure is to wear gloves for every little thing and to change between each and every patient, this is not even the way things are handled in every developed country. The risk is so exceedingly tiny for some things in which blood is not usually actually getting on the tech/nurse/doctor and the enviornmental impact of single use gloves so high that plenty of well developed countires with excellent healthcare do not require gloves at all for blood draws, vaccine injections, etc (they get worn for probably less than half the draws I have had in Germany, for example).
 
The odds are EXTREMLY low that you have caught anything. Extremly low. Try not to worry.

I would also guess, as a PP suggested, that it was iodine on the gloves. It would be fairly unusual for blood to end up on gloves and staining just from performing a blood draw.

While in the US and some other developed countries the standard procedure is to wear gloves for every little thing and to change between each and every patient, this is not even the way things are handled in every developed country. The risk is so exceedingly tiny for some things in which blood is not usually actually getting on the tech/nurse/doctor and the enviornmental impact of single use gloves so high that plenty of well developed countires with excellent healthcare do not require gloves at all for blood draws, vaccine injections, etc (they get worn for probably less than half the draws I have had in Germany, for example).
Thanks, could you please tell me if you have medical background? The person that came out before me had fingerstick test done and for some reason the stains seemed roundish. Is it possible to get roundish stains from fingerstick test?
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies and the concerns. I would not multi-reply so that it would not be a big post, I'll just summarize: First, as I have said, I've found disboards by googling and finding the following post (threads/worried-about-contamination-while-drawing-blood-please-help.3036951). I thought there were lot of helpful posts, so I wanted to here your opinion on similar matter.

I currently live in a small city in a developing country named Macedonia. I got high fever and was recommended to do blood work. Blood work results were ok (just for the record). The doctor said I got possibly viral infection due to strep throat. The only problem was how the blood work was done. She put belt above the vein to restrict blood flow, popped the plastic cap of a new syringe and inserted the needle without touching my vein. She got a bit off cotton, soaked alcohol on it and finally put it on top of my vein. Unfortunately, I saw the red stains of her gloves later and I did not see her changing gloves. I took a bath later when I came home. I reported the incident, there is still no response from them and I do not think that they will ever take it seriously since the healthcare currently has many other problems like MRSA appearing in some hospitals and also epidemics of measles (due to anti-vaxxers)

I see there are people giving advice ranging from "it's highly unlikely" to "go to ER". I would be happy if someone that worked in healthcare or someone with the proper education to give me advice.
If you saw the stains AFTER your "stick", how do you know the stains weren't caused by working on you? In other words, perhaps the tech DID change gloves (even if you didn't see it) and picked up the stain (whether iodine, blood, whatever) from your procedure?
 


No I do not have a medical background.

I have enough education on the subject to know the odds are extremly low that you'll have any issue and to know that the "universal procautions" that are typically followed in the USA (like gloves always( protect universally against everything, not that they are used/taken universally as many in countries where they are common practice beleive to be the case.

In order for you to hav an issue,iIt would have to have been blood on the gloves, and that blood would have to be infected, and then would have had to directly touched and been transfered to either the tip that went into you for the draw, or your skin right where you wer piierced or the cotton, on the side that then directly touched your open skin.

So, not being specifically of a medical background, no, I cannot say for certain. So, did you actually see that the gloves were not changed between you and the prior person, or are you just assuming this is the case becuase you saw somehting on the gloves and did not se when the tech put them on?
 
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Thanks to everyone for the replies and the concerns. I would not multi-reply so that it would not be a big post, I'll just summarize: First, as I have said, I've found disboards by googling and finding the following post (threads/worried-about-contamination-while-drawing-blood-please-help.3036951). I thought there were lot of helpful posts, so I wanted to here your opinion on similar matter.

I currently live in a small city in a developing country named Macedonia. I got high fever and was recommended to do blood work. Blood work results were ok (just for the record). The doctor said I got possibly viral infection due to strep throat. The only problem was how the blood work was done. She put belt above the vein to restrict blood flow, popped the plastic cap of a new syringe and inserted the needle without touching my vein. She got a bit off cotton, soaked alcohol on it and finally put it on top of my vein. Unfortunately, I saw the red stains of her gloves later and I did not see her changing gloves. I took a bath later when I came home. I reported the incident, there is still no response from them and I do not think that they will ever take it seriously since the healthcare currently has many other problems like MRSA appearing in some hospitals and also epidemics of measles (due to anti-vaxxers)

I see there are people giving advice ranging from "it's highly unlikely" to "go to ER". I would be happy if someone that worked in healthcare or someone with the proper education to give me advice.

First you said you thought there was a lot of useful posts on here. Than you said you want someone with the proper education to give you advice You should of said that in your first post before a lot of people wasted their time to try to give you advice.
 
As someone who did surgery for a decade and has an extensive knowledge of sterile technique as well as microbiology the answer to your questions are yes and yes. Further more the "tech" needs to be reported. There is some nasty & virulent pathogens in people's blood.
 


First you said you thought there was a lot of useful posts on here. Than you said you want someone with the proper education to give you advice You should of said that in your first post before a lot of people wasted their time to try to give you advice.
Well, it would be just useful if someone says " I worked in healthcare... or I had this issue before... or Here are some references..." so I can see whether some of the comments come from common sense (like one of the users posted before) or they are not. I did not expect such diversity in the opinions.
If you saw the stains AFTER your "stick", how do you know the stains weren't caused by working on you? In other words, perhaps the tech DID change gloves (even if you didn't see it) and picked up the stain (whether iodine, blood, whatever) from your procedure?
She did not touch my insertion spot with her gloved hands, I saw it! If she changed her gloves there would not have been any stains at all.
 
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She did not touch my insertion spot with her gloved hands, I saw it! If she changed her gloves there would not have been any stains at all.
Not necessarily. Here's what I'm picturing... as you're getting situated on the bed/chair/whatever, she changes her gloves (you don't notice). She preps the needle, preps the area, whatever and stains her glove. She then pricks you and that's when you see the stain. Unless you were watching her every minute since the last patient, you don't know whether she changed gloves or not.

According to you, you didn't see the stains until after the stick...
She put belt above the vein to restrict blood flow, popped the plastic cap of a new syringe and inserted the needle without touching my vein. She got a bit off cotton, soaked alcohol on it and finally put it on top of my vein. Unfortunately, I saw the red stains of her gloves later and I did not see her changing gloves.

I'm not in the medical profession, but based solely on what you've posted, I would not be concerned and I would not report the worker (because it's possible she changed gloves and I didn't see it happen).
 
Not necessarily. Here's what I'm picturing... as you're getting situated on the bed/chair/whatever, she changes her gloves (you don't notice). She preps the needle, preps the area, whatever and stains her glove. She then pricks you and that's when you see the stain. Unless you were watching her every minute since the last patient, you don't know whether she changed gloves or not.

According to you, you didn't see the stains until after the stick...


I'm not in the medical profession, but based solely on what you've posted, I would not be concerned and I would not report the worker (because it's possible she changed gloves and I didn't see it happen).
It's a good theory but I saw what she was doing since beginning and I always watch what they do. Where I get my blood drawn is just one office (with multiple workers), so one of the medical workers sits on the desk to handle medical card and the other one that was suppose to drew my blood was already seated. I closely monitored what she did. There was not a single drop of blood pouring out of my vein. She pulled out the needle and put the cotton on top of it. When she raised her hand I noticed multiple roundish red stains on her hand.
 
I'm still not sure what kind of support you're looking for here. I think you've gotten good advice to check with your doctor about your concerns.

Although we talk about a lot of things here, it's primarily a board to discuss Disney theme parks, not a board for medical advice.
-- Yes, it is possible to contract diseases if you're exposed to contaminated blood. That's why there are safety protocols in place.
-- Even if protocols weren't followed, that doesn't necessarily mean you've contracted something (so you were urged not to panic) but it probably does warrant more follow up if you truly feel that contaminated gloves were used. However, it's also possible that you didn't see everything that happened.
-- Several of us answered according to what seem to be standard protocols in North America, but protocols are not the same throughout the world (as evidenced by one poster giving their experiences in Germany). I doubt any of us is familiar with protocols in Macedonia.
--None of us witnessed your blood draw. None of us know what was on the gloves (blood? iodine? Were her hands stained beneath the gloves and showing through -- like from food coloring, ink, or a birthmark?), so none of us can tell you how likely it is to be a problem.

So, is it possible you could contract something? Yes. Is it likely? Probably not. Can any of us tell you for sure? No. Only your doctor can do that.
 
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At work we have a class on blood borne pathogens if we get any from another person. I only work in a factory. We are recommend to get hepatitis shots. Think it’s three shots over a period of time. I only work in a factory, healthcare workers can help you out a lot better. I will defintely call your doctor and see what they recommend. The shots hepatitis shots I think it works on a and b but not c, d and e if I remember correctly. Good luck

Yes. In my experience this is correct. A few years ago while cleaning out an apartment of a tenant we had evicted because of drug activity I had an accidental needle stick. It was lunchtime and my PCP’s office was closed so I took myself and the needle to the ER. I thought perhaps they could test the needle, but they could not and there was no way to identify who had used the needle to test the person(s), not that they would have cooperated anyway. I had a vaccine for hepatitis (works on a & b) in the ER as well as a tetanus shot and orally took anti-virals. I may have had blood work at that time also and I seem to recall another injection but I might be wrong about that. I was also given a 30 day prescription for anti-virals (2 different meds and OMG were they expensive) and told to follow up with my PCP to continue the anti-virals and to get the follow up hepatitis shots (1 month and 6 months).

When I saw my PCP he felt that I was over treated in the ER and that was risk was to me was infinitesimally small. He declined for me to continue the anti virals past the 30 days but agreed that the hepatitis vaccine couldn’t hurt and that if I wanted to be tested at 6 month for hepatitis and HIV he would okay that. I did all of that and my bloodwork was fine so that little nightmare was over.
 
We could go back and forth with this all day, but the truth is, right now you should simply be seeking a real live medical opinion, as time is of the essence.
Yes. In my experience this is correct. A few years ago while cleaning out an apartment of a tenant we had evicted because of drug activity I had an accidental needle stick. It was lunchtime and my PCP’s office was closed so I took myself and the needle to the ER. I thought perhaps they could test the needle, but they could not and there was no way to identify who had used the needle to test the person(s), not that they would have cooperated anyway. I had a vaccine for hepatitis (works on a & b) in the ER as well as a tetanus shot and orally took anti-virals. I may have had blood work at that time also and I seem to recall another injection but I might be wrong about that. I was also given a 30 day prescription for anti-virals (2 different meds and OMG were they expensive) and told to follow up with my PCP to continue the anti-virals and to get the follow up hepatitis shots (1 month and 6 months).

When I saw my PCP he felt that I was over treated in the ER and that was risk was to me was infinitesimally small. He declined for me to continue the anti virals past the 30 days but agreed that the hepatitis vaccine couldn’t hurt and that if I wanted to be tested at 6 month for hepatitis and HIV he would okay that. I did all of that and my bloodwork was fine so that little nightmare was over.
That just goes to show you how even among medical doctors, there can be dissent.

My two sticks have been on the job, and we have protocols at work. We are sent to the ER and get essentially what you got, if we choose to take it. I have done so. I think the risk is very small, but certainly there are many cases where sero-conversion has occurred, which are the ones we see on the books - all circumstances being different, of course. You hate to look in hindsight and say I should've done this or I shouldn't have done that. I think the feeling is that since there is such a small window of time to treat, it's better to treat it than not IF that's what the affected person wants to do. In your circumstances I absolutely would've treated since IV drug users are known to harbor infectiooius diseases more so than the average person who does not use IV drugs.
 
If they prepped your arm with betadine before inserting the needle for the blood draw then it could have stained their gloves and it is a reddish color. But you don't mention them prepping the area at all prior to drawing your blood. Did they not do that?

And I am not in the medical field but I have common sense and I've been married to a guy in the medical field for 35yrs so take from that what you will.
 
We could go back and forth with this all day, but the truth is, right now you should simply be seeking a real live medical opinion, as time is of the essence.

This is definitely what the whole discussion boils down to. I remember being surprised that being vaccinated against hepatitis AFTER the potential exposure could possibly be effective, but the professionals assured me that it was. But the sooner the better if you are going to seek medical advice. The first dose of anti virals was given to me in the ER. They didn’t want me to wait to get the prescription filled. I recall the ER doctor admitting that he was a bit unsure what to do—typically when they see needle sticks it’s in the hospital setting and the person the needle came from can be tested. He acknowledged that I was being given strong medication and my chances of being infected were slim, but that if I were his wife that was what he would reccomend.
 
If they prepped your arm with betadine before inserting the needle for the blood draw then it could have stained their gloves and it is a reddish color. But you don't mention them prepping the area at all prior to drawing your blood. Did they not do that?

And I am not in the medical field but I have common sense and I've been married to a guy in the medical field for 35yrs so take from that what you will.
No, she did not put anything on my vein before drawing blood.
This is definitely what the whole discussion boils down to. I remember being surprised that being vaccinated against hepatitis AFTER the potential exposure could possibly be effective, but the professionals assured me that it was. But the sooner the better if you are going to seek medical advice. The first dose of anti virals was given to me in the ER. They didn’t want me to wait to get the prescription filled. I recall the ER doctor admitting that he was a bit unsure what to do—typically when they see needle sticks it’s in the hospital setting and the person the needle came from can be tested. He acknowledged that I was being given strong medication and my chances of being infected were slim, but that if I were his wife that was what he would reccomend.
Do you know for what viral infections are the anti-viral given?
 
If they prepped your arm with betadine before inserting the needle for the blood draw then it could have stained their gloves and it is a reddish color. But you don't mention them prepping the area at all prior to drawing your blood. Did they not do that?

And I am not in the medical field but I have common sense and I've been married to a guy in the medical field for 35yrs so take from that what you will.
Now that I think about it, when I GIVE blood, they prep the draw site with betadine(?). However, if I go to a lab to do a blood draw (for tests), I don't think they do.
 
I smell BS because if you were being serious then you wouldn't be asking something like this on a Disney forum.
 
There was not a single drop of blood pouring out of my vein.
Then it appears there was no exchange of bodily fluids, therefore virtually impossible to be contaminated.
She pulled out the needle and put the cotton on top of it. When she raised her hand I noticed multiple roundish red stains on her hand.
Stains? Dried stains? Not actively fluid?
Since you watched every. single. thing. the tech did, is there anything at all that indicates she may have reused a needle?



And I am not in the medical field but I have common sense and I've been married to a guy in the medical field for 35yrs so take from that what you will.
Very common-sensible :D
 

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