Accidental exposure
One fear that foster or adoptive
parents might have while considering caring for an HIV-positive child
is the possibility of accidental exposure to HIV for themselves or
their other children. The first thing you will want to do before
panicking is to call your doctor to ask whether or not you were
actually 'exposed' to HIV. At that point, your doctor will give
you recommendations as to what steps should be taken next.
An accidental exposure to HIV is specifically defined as:
An event where blood or other potentially infectious body fluid
inadvertently comes into contact with non-intact skin, mucous
membranes, or subcutaneous tissue (via percutaneous injury).
The good news is that most cases of accidental exposure to HIV do not
actually lead to HIV infection. For instance, in a study of 1000
people who were stuck with a needle containing blood from an HIV+
person, only 3 of those individuals ended up testing positive for the
disease (that's 0.3%). The longer that HIV is exposed to air, the
less likely it is to cause infection to someone.
In some cases, after an exposure a person will be placed on an HIV
antiretroviral medication (such as AZT) for a period of time. The
decision to place an exposed person on AIDS medication is made after
doctors evaluate the person's risk of infection. Otherwise, in
most cases accidental exposure leads to a very low risk of infection
and no treatment is necessary.
Should a child who has recently been sexually abused be placed into
your care, and the child was recently abused by someone who is at risk for HIV
infection, the child may be treated with HIV medication for several
weeks to try to prevent infection. Keep in mind that just because
a child is on an AIDS medication does not necessarily mean the child
will have the disease. It just means they may have recently been
exposed.
The following are sites of
interest in regards to exposure to HIV through sexual abuse:
HIV Post-Exposure
Prophylaxis
Preventing HIV
after Rape
© 2003 Sarah P. All rights
reserved.
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