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I saw infants clinging to their dead mother in the street. Wow. That gives one a perspective on life.

drakaal 13y ago
Yeah. And being told by doctors that I shouldn't have picked up an infant without a Hazmat suit was eye opening. The Doctors and Nurses barely touch anything, they swear, and I believe them, that a scrape from a railing, or a fall on the stairs can be all it takes to get an HIV infection. Like we think of tetanus they think of Hep, and HIV.
- eric_bullington 13y ago
  >they swear, and I believe them, that a scrape from a railing, or a fall on the stairs can be all it takes to get an HIV infection. In fact, I assume that the doctors and nurses there are worried about cuts or scrapes not because they think that can get HIV from the scrape itself (no known cases), but because they are often exposed to infected blood over the course of their work, and having an open cut or sore could increase their chances of becoming infected with HIV, HepB/C or other blood-born diseases. Even that type of caution is a little on the paranoid side. There have been few, if any, documented cases of HIV transmission to medical professional from patients that did not involve sharps incidents. My wife, and several close friends, worked for multiple years among people living with HIV/AIDS in W. Africa, and they know of no one who became infected with HIV via non-sexual transmission not involving infected sharps or other percutaneous medical devices (native Africans and expats alike).
srean 13y ago
this would perhaps add a little photographic perspective http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RgGNiCL8jK0/TFuDfppScAI/AAAAAAAAA30/IK_k6vWg2oE/s1600/kevin+Carter.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RgGNiCL8jK0/TFuDfppScAI/AAAAAAAAA3... Its the iconic picture by Kevin Carter shot 3 months prior to him committing suicide.
- StavrosK 13y ago
  Wasn't that photo taken next to a food bank? I seem to recall that they were in line to get rations. I'm on the mobile right now and can't post the link.

Yeah. And being told by doctors that I shouldn't have picked up an infant without a Hazmat suit was eye opening. The Doctors and Nurses barely touch anything, they swear, and I believe them, that a scrape from a railing, or a fall on the stairs can be all it takes to get an HIV infection. Like we think of tetanus they think of Hep, and HIV.

eric_bullington 13y ago
>they swear, and I believe them, that a scrape from a railing, or a fall on the stairs can be all it takes to get an HIV infection. In fact, I assume that the doctors and nurses there are worried about cuts or scrapes not because they think that can get HIV from the scrape itself (no known cases), but because they are often exposed to infected blood over the course of their work, and having an open cut or sore could increase their chances of becoming infected with HIV, HepB/C or other blood-born diseases. Even that type of caution is a little on the paranoid side. There have been few, if any, documented cases of HIV transmission to medical professional from patients that did not involve sharps incidents. My wife, and several close friends, worked for multiple years among people living with HIV/AIDS in W. Africa, and they know of no one who became infected with HIV via non-sexual transmission not involving infected sharps or other percutaneous medical devices (native Africans and expats alike).

srean 13y ago

this would perhaps add a little photographic perspective http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RgGNiCL8jK0/TFuDfppScAI/AAAAAAAAA30/IK_k6vWg2oE/s1600/kevin+Carter.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RgGNiCL8jK0/TFuDfppScAI/AAAAAAAAA3... Its the iconic picture by Kevin Carter shot 3 months prior to him committing suicide.

StavrosK 13y ago
Wasn't that photo taken next to a food bank? I seem to recall that they were in line to get rations. I'm on the mobile right now and can't post the link.