Accidental Exposure to Blood or Other Body Fluids potentially ...

hepatitis BAre there advantagesTO GETTING TESTED?The tests are aimed first and foremost atfacilitating follow-up for the person whowas exposed to your blood or other bodyfluid. In addition, tests can detect aninfection you may be carrying withoutknowing it. With early detection, you canstart treatment that can limitcomplications linked to the infection,slow its progression or, if you havehepatitis C, cure the infection;adopt safe behaviours to avoidtransmitting the infection.If you agree toHAVE THE TESTSDon't hesitate to ask questions about thetypes of tests that will be done, theirsignificance, how the results will be usedand the measures that will be taken toensure confidentiality.hepatitis CHIV infectionresults should be communicated to you inperson during an appointment with ahealth professional, and not over thephone.If you decide not toHAVE THE TESTSYour choice not to get tested must berespected. However, even in this case, donot hesitate to ask questions; you mayrealize that the fears influencing yourdecision are groundless.Although less reliable than blood tests,certain information on your medicalhistory or lifestyle can help guide thehealth professional responsible forassessing the risk related to the accidentalexposure to your body fluids. Anyinformation you provide will remainconfidential.hepatitis Bhepatitis B hepatitis CFor more information,call Info-Santé at 8-1-1or contact your doctor.ACCIDENTALEXPOSURETO BLOODOR OTHER BODYFLUIDS POTENTIALLYCONTAMINATEDWITHhepatitis B virus (HBV)hepatitis C virus (HCV)ORhumanimmunodeficiencyvirus (HIV)I N F O R M A T I O NFOR THE SOURCE PERSONEstablish right away how the results are tobe given to you: you can ask to have yourdoctor tell you or the health institutionthat ordered the tests. In any case, the01-338-0213-338-02A © Gouvernement du Québec, 2013w w w . m s s s . g o u v . q c . c a

hepatitis CHIV infectionhepatitis Bhepatitis BHIV infectionhepatitis CSomeone has been accidentallyexposed to your bloodor genital secretions.What doesTHIS MEAN?An accidental exposure means that aperson has inadvertently been in contactwith your blood or other body fluid. Suchan incident can happen when someonepricks themselves with a needle whengiving you an injection or cuts themselveswith an instrument used to give you care, orduring a procedure that causes you to bleed;it can also happen when someone hasunprotected sex with you or uses yourinjection equipment immediately afteryou do.What doesTHIS MEAN FORTHE EXPOSED PERSON?Some viruses are transmitted throughblood or genital secretions, especiallyhepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus(HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus(HIV). If you are a carrier of an infectioncaused by one of these viruses, a personexposed to your blood or genital secretionscan contract it.These infections can be detectedwith a simple blood test a few weeksafter contamination.If the risk of transmission cannot be ruleout, preventive measures known to beeffective can be used. They includeadministration of a vaccine or antibodies inthe case of hepatitis B, and antiretrovirals inthe case of HIV. However, antiretovirals canhave side effects, some of which can bemajor, although the drugs currently on themarket are better tolerated. There are nopreventive treatments for hepatitis C.Moreover, if the possibility that you are acarrier of HBV, HCV or HIV cannot be ruledout, the person who has been exposed toone of your body fluids will need bloodtests periodically over a six-month periodto ensure he or she has not contracted aninfection. During this period, the personwill also have to take measures to avoidtransmitting a possible infection. Thesemeasures include taking steps to preventpregnancy, using a condom, and refrainingfrom giving blood, plasma, sperm, tissuesor organs.However, if it can be confirmed thatyou are not carrying any of theseviruses, the person exposed to yourblood will not have to undergotreatment or have extended medicalfollow-up since he or she will not becontaminated.If there has been accidental exposureto your blood or other body fluids,it is very important to determine ifthey contain HBV, HCV or HIV.What doesTHIS MEAN FOR YOU?A health professional will ask for yourconsent to carry out blood tests todetermine whether hepatitis B,hepatitis C or HIV virus is present in yourblood. You are free to accept or refuse tohave these tests. Moreover, you areentitled to receive all the informationneeded to make a decision.Like all information in your medical file,your test results will remain confidential.However, since your test results willdetermine the appropriate medicalfollow-up, the exposed person will beindirectly informed of the results.Blood tests are the only reliable wayto determine whether or not yourblood contains HBV, HCV or HIV.Hepatitis B and HIV infection aretransmitted through blood or sexualcontact; hepatitis C is transmitted mostlythrough blood. Four factors fostertransmission of these infections: certainsexual practices, blood transfusionsreceived in the past (before screeningbecame mandatory), injection drug use,and the presence of a sexually-transmitteddisease (e.g. gonorrhoea, chlamydia). Ahealth professional may ask you questionsabout the above subjects and about anysymptoms related to one of the threeinfections that you may have (e.g.jaundice, weight loss and pronouncedfatigue).Hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV infectioncan be asymptomatic for a long time. Thefact that you have no signs or symptomsof these infections does not necessarilymean you are not infected. Questionsabout sexual behaviours are only used toindicate the nature of the risk and not toconfirm or refute the presence ofinfection.Are there disadvantagesTO GETTING TESTED?The tests themselves simply involvetaking a blood sample. However, findingout that you are carrying an infection youdid not know you had may be difficult foryou. Talk it over with a healthprofessional. Together, you can assess thelikelihood that one of the tests yield apositive result and what that would meanfor you.