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I am one of the unlucky few that got it working in the health field. I accidently got stuck when throwing away a dirty needle. It was the only needle-stick I ever had working in the health field....and I worked in the field for 25 years. I was always very careful to wear gloves and wash my hands every time I had contact with a patient. The bitch of it is that it happened before they even knew what Hep C was - couldn't even test for it - and the term "Universal Precautions" was paid very little attention.The only thing people ever paid much attention to then was called HTLV-3......then HIV......and finally AIDS. Not that terminology matters. I found out I had Hep C when the blood bank called looking for my son to donate blood - he's B+ - so they asked my blood type - AB+, and since they're both fairly rare types - about 3% of the population, I readily agreed to donate. Two weeks later, I got a letter from rhe blood bank saying I had Hep C and to never everdonate blood again. They also said they had notified the CDC that I was HCV positive and my name would be put on a list of infected people. Really made me feel warm and fuzzy. So caring. So that's my story, and it has been hell ever since. But, my journey's about over so I'm just trying to help people who have it too.
Peace,
CloudCity
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