To the Editor: A 27-year-old hospital medical officer received a penetrating needlestick injury to her left hand, drawing blood, after using a 22-gauge needle to deroof a vesicle for diagnosis in a two-year-old patient with orolabial herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The medical officer had no significant medical history, took no regular medication, and had no previous history of oral or genital herpes.
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
- 1. Perl TM, Haugen TH, Pfaller MA, et al. Transmission of herpes simplex virus type 1 infection in an intensive care unit. Ann Intern Med 1992; 117: 584-586.
- 2. Zbitnew A, Greer K, Heise-Qualtiere J, et al. Vinyl versus latex gloves as barriers to transmission of viruses in the health care setting. J AIDS 1989; 2: 201-204.
- 3. Oxman MN. Herpes simplex viruses. In: Gorbach SL, Bartlett JG, Blacklow NR, editors. Infectious diseases. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Company, 1998: 2022-2061.
- 4. Thackray AM, Field HJ. Comparison of effects of famciclovir and valaciclovir on pathogenesis of herpes simplex virus type 2 in a murine infection model. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1996; 40: 846-851.
- 5. Manian FA. Potential role of famciclovir for prevention of herpetic whitlow in the health care setting. Clin Infect Dis 2000; 31: E18-E19.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
We thank Mr Peter Farkas, Clinical Photographer at Royal Darwin Hospital.