On the Groove Cafe show yesterday, practicing lab technician Dan Dominic Ariong explained that lab technicians usually contract diseases from patients through accidental injuries.
Ariong narrated having gotten pricked by a needle once while taking a blood sample of an HIV-positive patient.
“One time I accidentally pricked myself with a needle I used on an HIV-positive patient. Luckily, she told me she was sick and when 1 tested her blood sample, it was true. I took post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for 30 days and having a partner, you don’t want to tell them, it was challenging because it also has its side effects,” he said.
He said he took the medication for 30 days and tested three months after to confirm whether he was safe from the virus. He did the same was done after six months.
Ariong is grateful for having not contracted covid 19 despite fellow medical personnel that contracted the disease. However, he admitted to having experienced psychological than physical challenges.
He explained that most challenges include Phlebotomy, a process that involves drawing out blood from someone directly from a vein, where some people can cause an accidental injury to the technician because they fear the needle and also from children.
Although Ariong is a lab technician, he says he deals more in pharmacology. He diagnoses and prescribes treatment for mostly viral, bacterial, and fungal infections.
He also holds lectures in parasitology, clinical chemistry, and microbiology.
The Groove Cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5 pm on RX Radio.
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