In January of this year, I was working in the BSL3 lab where we work with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the real deal that can make you sick) when a glass pasteur pipette that I had been using to wash cells that were infected with M.tb broke, cut through both pairs of gloves that I was wearing and cut me. My whole glove had filled up with blood. While still inside the lab, I sprayed the cut with the disinfectant Vesphene, tore off all other protective gear that couldn't leave the lab, exited the lab, took off my N95 respirator, head and foot gear, gown and lastly, my 2nd pair of gloves. The cut on my finger was small, but there was a lot of blood that came out and I was concerned that I had been infected with M.tb.
It takes about 6 months to test positive for M.tb infection once you have been exposed to the pathogen. I got the cut in January and so now in June, it was time for my bi-annual Tuberculin test (click on the Title link above to learn more). I had my injection on Tuesday. That day I did have redness around the site of injection. Wednesday I still had about 1 centimeter diameter around the site... not looking good... but today, Thursday, I will go into the nurse's clinic with a clean arm and no indication of exposure to tuberculosis. Thank God! Yesterday I was stressing just a little bit. I have never had redness of any kind for my PPD test.
These are some of the dangers of working with pathogens, and the proper precautions are taken to ensure maximum safety for everyone involved, but accidents do happen. But for now, I am still TB free!
1 comment:
Thank goodness it came back negative! I poked myself with a dirty needle when I was 10 weeks pregnant and I totally flipped out. I drenched my finger in bleach and then milked as much blood out as I could. The patient's blood was drawn and thankfully they didn't have anything. Anyways, be safe Michelle!
Post a Comment