Girl Sticks Schoolmates With Used Needle

 

 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A third-grader stuck 19 schoolmates with her mother's diabetes blood-testing needle this week, and one pricked student tested positive for HIV on a preliminary test, officials said.

 

Health officials said the virus could not have been contracted from the needle stick, and they noted that preliminary tests can yield false positives. The risk to students who were stuck after the possibly infected child depends on factors including the depth of the stick, health officials said.

 

The 8-year-old stuck her Taylor Elementary schoolmates Wednesday at the school's breakfast, at lunch and in the classroom, using a needle that was about one-third of an inch long, on the end of a device that looks like a pen, school officials said. They were unsure why the girl did it.

 

She was suspended and will probably be moved to another school, said Paul Vallas, the school district's chief executive.

 

Most of the students involved were taken to a hospital for testing and treatment, school officials said.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of HIV infection after a needle stick is low, with an average of one in 300 cases leading to infection.

 

Terry asked me the very question I had, "And the fucking kids LET her?"

 

What in the HELL is happening in schools (and children's lives) that they do this sort of thing? Even if AIDS weren't a possibility, that is still some fucked up shit.

For anyone that is unfamiliar, the object is not really a needle. It is a device called a lancet. The entire lancet is an inch to an inch and a half long, and more importantly, it is NOT capable of carrying fluids inside of it like you would expect from a needle. The only way of carrying something on it is to have it physically on the pin itself. Here is a picture of a typical lancet...

 

 

Now, the pen-like device looks very much similar to a pen. The lancet itself is inside the device, and a spring inside activates this lancet, so the tip comes out for a fraction of a second so one can acquire a drop of blood to place on a test strip. It would be very easy for a student to prick someone else with one of these. However, it is highly unlikely to produce anything besides momentary pain and a very small amount of blood. The positive HIV test likely is a false positive or occured from another source. Here's what your typical penlet looks like...

 

I actually knew what it was since my father-in-law is diabetic and has to test his blood sugar twice+ more a day.

 

I was more shocked by the fact that a child brought one to school and that other kids let her prick them with it. Also shocked that her parent doesn't keep a better eye on her child, or where she apparently disposes her lancets.

Well, it does not say if the students LET her stick them with it. And it would be a very easy thing to sneak something like this on them.

 

And many diabetics might not be careful about their supplies, especially lancets, that come in boxes or 100 or more.

 

I should add that I am a diabetic myself.

Well, it was used...

 

And if you have small children in the house, regardless of whether or not they know better, things like that should be kept out of their reach...used or not. When you have children, you always run the risk of them having friends over. And it is common sense to keep things of that nature out of reach, and possibly sight.

I agree. From the sound of the article, it seems like these kids allowed themselved to be pricked with the needle. Who knows, maybe they are the kind of kids that are into gross stuff. Either way, I doubt anyone contracted HIV from it, unless one of the other kids already had the disease.