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Health care workers can get HIV if they stick themselves with a needle that's been used on someone who has the virus. The chance that they'll get HIV is very small. The chance of getting infected from a needlestick is less than 1 in every 300 accidents.¹

There's also a chance that you can get infected if blood from someone with HIV gets inside your body. For example, if you're taking a blood sample and some of the blood gets into a cut on your skin or splashes into your eye. However, the chances of this happening are very small.

Up to the end of 2001, only 57 people in the United States had gotten HIV through their work in health care.²

The risk of getting HIV at work is small. And there are many things you can do to protect yourself:²

• Wear gloves and goggles when you work with blood or body fluids
• Wash your hands and other skin surfaces right after handling blood or body fluids
• Be very careful whenever you handle sharp instruments.

It's important to remember that casual, everyday contact with a person who has HIV doesn't put you at risk of catching the virus.

If you do stick yourself with a needle then you should get medical help immediately. There are drugs you can take to lower your chances of getting infected.

To learn more, see Emergency treatment if you think you've been exposed to HIV.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.