Hepatitis C — a risk to consider

I would like to share a personal experience I recently encountered with fellow veterinary nurses. As a part of a routine day’s work I was called to assist in taking a blood sample from a cat. The owner was present in the consult room and offered to help restrain the cat as it became fractious and difficult to obtain the sample from. As the vet was extracting the sample from the jugular vein the cat struggled and bit the owner on the hand. He bled profusely from the wound and the blood dripped onto the back of my hand where I had a small cut. The blood was sufficient to run across the back of my hand and drip from the tips of my fingers. It was at this point the cat’s owner advised me of some serious details regarding his health.

He said, ‘I should probably let you know, I am Hepatitis C positive and on the methadone programme. You should get yourself checked out’.