Friday, April 29, 2005

Bizarre 3rd Grade Needle-Sticking Story Doesn't Make Sense

A CNN story about a 3rd grade girl in Pennsylvania sticking 19 students with her mother's diabetes blood-testing needle "this week" is riddled with contradicions.

Issue I: The article says she stuck students during breakfast, at lunch and in the classroom. That would appear to be over a 3 to 4-hour period of time. Didn't anyone say, "Outch" and tell a teacher or adult staff? If so, why didn't the school confront the girl immediately?

Issue II: The article says that one of the students "stuck" subequently tested positive for HIV. This raises several problems:
Problem #1: According to Wikopedia, "The window period is the time from infection until a test can detect any change. The average window period with antibody tests is 22 days. Antigen testing cuts the window period to approximately 16 days and NAT further reduces this period to 12 days. (FDA 2001)" Yet, accordiing to the article, this test resulted in a "positive" within a matter of days?

Problem #2: "Health officials said the virus could not have been contracted from the needle stick." Yet, further down in the same article, "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of HIV infection after a needle stick is low, with an average of one in 300 cases leading to infection."

Which is it? Impossible? or Unlikely? or just Unlucky? If I was the parent of the infected child the difference between "impossible" and "maybe" would make a very big difference.

Problem #3: Has anyone considered the possibility that the child who tested positive for HIV already had the infection before being stuck? If so, whoever was stuck with the needle after them would be at a much higher risk, no?

Problem #4: Is the diabetic mother who owned the needle HIV positive? Was she tested? Is her right to "privacy" trumped by the health implications for the children? Is this a legal matter of concern? It is certainly a medical and a moral matter.
Issue III: According to the article, the girld "was suspended and will probably be moved to another school," said Paul Vallas, the school district's chief executive. Huh? Moved to another school? Whatever happened with the concept of being expelled? Would I want my child sitting next to this girl in class or in the lunchroom for the next 3 or 4 years of elementary school? Is the school district requiring psychological testing? Is their criminal or civil liability with the girl's mother? Is there a police investigation taking place?

Conclusion A: My uninformed hope is that this is simply a matter of very, very poor news writing and that the matter is presently in the hands for good people making good decisions, etc.

Conclusion B: My even greater hope is that this whole story, which reads like an urban legend, is a complete fabrication.