I stepped on a tack (the kind you use to put up posters with the round flat top) today. It pierced the skin on my big toe in two places and the piercing bled. Now I am worried that I will contract the HIV virus, hepatitis, tetanus, etc. What are the chances that I got anything from this?
Karma's a b*tch.
It's highly unlikely that you contracted something but if you're really worried, contact your doctor.
Strike Hard / Strike Home
In order for you to have contracted either HIV or Hepatitis B or C viruses; someone with those diseases would have had to bleed onto the tack prior to you stepping on it. Those viruses are absolutely excluded otherwise. If you go to your family Doctor you will be given a tetanus toxoid injection for safety. The actual chance of contracting tetanus is very rare. The bacteria that causes tetanus is common on farms that have horses. The manure of horses normally contains the Clostridum tetani bacterium. People in an earlier time, who had horses for transportation, commonly acquired the disease if they stepped on a nail that had been deficated on by a horse. In this day and age, unless you reside on a farm, you cannot get tetanus by having your skin penetrated by a nail or a tack.
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