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[wasabi]

I just went and got an HIV test at the little clinic about halfway up Soi 11 on Sukhumvit Soi 11. I was sort of in a daze as I went through the motions but as the lady was drawing my blood I noticed she didn't have any latex gloves on. As I got on the BTS I started to wonder if she had used a clean needle? I assume they would but now I'm a little worried. Has anyone ever been to this clinic? Are they for the most part hygienic?

[zorro1]

wasabi, on 2008-09-24 18:04:07, said:

I just went and got an HIV test at the little clinic about halfway up Soi 11 on Sukhumvit Soi 11. I was sort of in a daze as I went through the motions but as the lady was drawing my blood I noticed she didn't have any latex gloves on. As I got on the BTS I started to wonder if she had used a clean needle? I assume they would but now I'm a little worried. Has anyone ever been to this clinic? Are they for the most part hygienic?

Today I arrived back from Australia and went to my favorite bar and as usual the same girl pushed the lime into my San MiG light with her finger all the way down, and shes a bar girl That's just the way it is and you would have to be the unluckiest person in the world to contract HIV whist being tested,stop worrying .

[dumball]

zorro1, on 2008-09-24 17:10:29, said:

wasabi, on 2008-09-24 18:04:07, said:

I just went and got an HIV test at the little clinic about halfway up Soi 11 on Sukhumvit Soi 11. I was sort of in a daze as I went through the motions but as the lady was drawing my blood I noticed she didn't have any latex gloves on. As I got on the BTS I started to wonder if she had used a clean needle? I assume they would but now I'm a little worried. Has anyone ever been to this clinic? Are they for the most part hygienic?

Today I arrived back from Australia and went to my favorite bar and as usual the same girl pushed the lime into my San MiG light with her finger all the way down, and shes a bar girl That's just the way it is and you would have to be the unluckiest person in the world to contract HIV whist being tested,stop worrying .

Is that right , does not seem like a healthy practise to me , what had she been scratching before she 'Rinsed ' her digit in your drink , were there any breaks in her skin ?

For ANY blood test , latex gloves are a must and the needle should come from a sealed , sterile package , any deviation from this and you may require another test in 6 weeks time , followed by another after another 6 weeks and 1 more after a further 3 months . It is your health , insist on having your tests done in a safe and hygenic manner , oh , there is a new invention called a 'Swizzle stick ' for the same reason , HIV is not to be taken lightly .

[bendix]

FFS.

Why do you guys get out of bed in the morning? It's far too dangerous out there.

Grow a pair, huh?

[dumball]

bendix, on 2008-09-26 01:13:21, said:

FFS.

Why do you guys get out of bed in the morning? It's far too dangerous out there.

Grow a pair, huh?

Hiv is fairly widespread in this neck of the woods , that is why it does not pay to throw caution to the wind , why do you think medics wear latex gloves in the civilised world , even the coaches do that in sports injuries , they are often up in the early a.m.

Yes it can be dangerous out there for the reckless and unwary , read about that often enough here on TV .

[russianrobert]

Why go to some sleezy little clinc? Go to Bumrungrad, it's round the corner. It will cost you a bit more but the place and the serive are great but still cheaper than you would pay at home.

[zorro1]

Had to giggle at the irony. OP happy to dip his unrubbered pecker into dark wet moist places but we cant be going near a rubberless hand

[dumball]

zorro1, on 2008-09-26 07:13:49, said:

Had to giggle at the irony. OP happy to dip his unrubbered pecker into dark wet moist places but we cant be going near a rubberless hand

Got a giggle from that myself , but figgered i should keep it straight .

[Sheryl]

now, now...we don't know that this what happened. A condom may have broken, or he may have needed the test for some other reason.

OP: in Thailand they use disposable needles & syringes, which are not reusable.

I wouldn't worry.

BTW gloves are worn to protect the person taking the blood, not the patient, since they are the ones in danger of coming into contact with someone else's blood.

It became common practice after the advent of HIV.

[JSixpack]

wasabi, on 2008-09-24 17:04:07, said:

Has anyone ever been to this clinic? Are they for the most part hygienic?

Guess you missed the sign prominently displayed in the front window. That clinic is strictly "no-frills" to cut down on your costs. You have to bring your own latex gloves, clean needles, and soap. Otherwise you just get dull, dirty, well-used old needles from previous patients, retrieved from the bin, and bare hands that have just been up god-knows-where. If you'd at least brought soap, the hands could have been washed anyway.

No telling WHAT you've contracted now!

Well, as a start, if your tetanus booster isn't up-to-date you'd better rush back (with gloves, needles, and soap of course) and get that or prepare for lockjaw and possible tracheostomy. Could be just the beginning of your misfortunes.

Yes, the effects of this disaster may be felt for years. Best o' luck to ya, friend.

Edited by JSixpack, 2008-09-28 08:41:04.

[neion2000]

wasabi, on 2008-09-24 05:04:07, said:

I just went and got an HIV test at the little clinic about halfway up Soi 11 on Sukhumvit Soi 11. I was sort of in a daze as I went through the motions but as the lady was drawing my blood I noticed she didn't have any latex gloves on. As I got on the BTS I started to wonder if she had used a clean needle? I assume they would but now I'm a little worried. Has anyone ever been to this clinic? Are they for the most part hygienic?

I'd worry.. Not because she was not wearing gloves, it's the point that you did not see her open the Syringe/Needle package before she stuck you.. But the odds of that -- I'm sure are rare!!... so, like someone else said, don't worry...

I've witnessed something less evil.. I had X-Rays of my teeth twice.. The women and doctor sat in the same room while it was being conducted.. I've served 22 years in the U.S. military and every time I got an X-ray, the person taking it and everyone else was required to leave the room while it was taken. Not in Thailand.. so, I'm not surprised about no gloves to protect them..

Edited by neion2000, 2008-09-28 09:12:41.

[Macx]

Pretty common practice here, even at Bumrungrad. Busy, overworked nurses sometimes don't bother putting on gloves just to prick you with a needle. In fact, of my weeks in the hospitals, it was more the exception when they bothered with the gloves. And, yes, I'm sure all of them use clean needles, cheap and easier than if they didn't.

FYI, large hospitals (like Bumrungrad) have their own lab, so you get your results in 2-3 hrs. and if the results are not what you'd hope for, they have professionals there to help you.

Good luck.

Take it easy

[dumball]

Sheryl, on 2008-09-27 14:03:57, said:

now, now...we don't know that this what happened. A condom may have broken, or he may have needed the test for some other reason.

OP: in Thailand they use disposable needles & syringes, which are not reusable.

I wouldn't worry.

BTW gloves are worn to protect the person taking the blood, not the patient, since they are the ones in danger of coming into contact with someone else's blood.

It became common practice after the advent of HIV.

The gloves work both ways , how do know the care taker is not HIV positive ?

[zorro1]

dumb all I don't dislike you believe me its just that you don't think things through before posting

[dumball]

zorro1, on 2008-09-30 03:14:09, said:

dumb all I don't dislike you believe me its just that you don't think things through before posting

That in itself is a querilous predisposition , you post this supposition without even taking the trouble to multi-task the implications of care givers not taking the full advantage of the use of latex gloves during blood testing , or for that matter ,many other instances of medical protective procedures . Far too many patients leave hospitals today because of this infraction , with problems with their health they had not entered the hospital with in the first instance .

The percentage of risk for a patient are very miniscule to contact HIV , but they do exist , the larger scenario is the often missed probability (and likely-hood) of having other transmittable infections transmited by the mere rubbing of skin on skin . This is a current problem of even having medical staff to even wash their hands between patients , it is imperitave that the patient takes it into their own hands to point this fact out to their care giver , you are the only one in the end run of circumstance to ensure this indisputible fact of incompetance . Incompetance : failure to take the neccessary equipment and knowlede to perform the work at hand .

Next time , before you instigate that a poster (Or any one else) is unthinking , please put your own brain in gear BEFORE making such an uninformed comment , i am yours truly Dumb all , with no hard feelings either .

[Sheryl]

Dumball and Zorro, knock it off please befiore this escalates into flaming and I have to take Moderator action.

DB, the gloves do not work both ways with regard to HIV infection. Even if the health worker has HIV, you cannot contact it from their hands. The use of gloves is part of what is called "universal precautions" introduced to protect health professionals from HIV, Hepatitis B etc. The gloves used when used) are not sterile, and can in fact be less clean than freshly washed hands if the same same gloves are worn for multiple patients.

It is much harder to draw blood or start an IV wearing gloves because success in getting the needle into the vein depends on being able to feel the vein; gloves reduce the ability to do this. This may be the reason for some health workers not using them. That and maybe the Thai "mai ben rai" philosophy....

The gloves make enough of a difference that in my many decades of clinical work I sometimes took mine off even with patients that I knew to be HIV positive (and this back before the current meds were available, so we're talking HIV+ with high viral loads) after a few unsuccessful tries with them on. With a silent prayer for my own safety, of course. But it was the only alternative to subjecting the patient to a lot of painful jabs.

I can assure you that noplace is using sterile gloves for drawing blood samples. Any gloves you see on, are non-sterile, and not necessarily any cleaner than hands without gloves, maybe even less so. However, the needles are sterile and the provider's hands, gloved or otherwise, should never touch the needle; if by accident they do, a new needle should be used.

[mkattir]

Hello.
I went to the same clinic a couple of days ago just before leaving BKK. They were supposed to email me the results but nothing yet. Do you happen to have their email address or their phone number please?
Thanks

[mommysboy]

yes they use clean syringes - judging from the one time I used them in my naughty days some time ago.

[psyclon]

I went to the red cross yesterday and now im shit scared. the guy didn't change the gloves, he had the same ones on as for the lady before me and probably countless others before her. he threw away her needle using the same gloves as he used to pick up mine and he also didnt change them to clean me arm. I though he would, so didnt say anything first, but he was rather quick-handed so i was late. HIV and Hepatitis C can be a problem because of this, I think. so now i literally cannot sleep because i know that a high percentage of those visiting that clinic have them.

[moe666]

No gloves no problem just wash your hands after the finger wave.

[Sheryl]

psyclon, on 2010-05-28 09:47:55, said:

I went to the red cross yesterday and now im shit scared. the guy didn't change the gloves, he had the same ones on as for the lady before me and probably countless others before her. he threw away her needle using the same gloves as he used to pick up mine and he also didnt change them to clean me arm. I though he would, so didnt say anything first, but he was rather quick-handed so i was late. HIV and Hepatitis C can be a problem because of this, I think. so now i literally cannot sleep because i know that a high percentage of those visiting that clinic have them.

Please see the prior explanations.

Gloves are worn to protect the staff in case any of your blood gets on their hands.

You are protected by the fact that a new, sterile needle is used.

That he threw away her needle with the same glove with which he picked up yours should not matter as he would not have have touched the needle itself. If he had, then even with a new pair of gloves, wrong technique.