Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
What Are The Chances Of Contracting Warts Infection In Work Environment?
Question: Doctor,
I work in a team of seven people in a marketing group.In my team there is a woman who has HPV infection on her neck.As far as i know they are common warts.There are two warts on her neck both on one side.Since we work together we share many objects.
This thing happened and it is worrying me...She was using headphones and the wire of the headphones kept touching her wart and also from time to time she touched the wart and then the headphones...she was using the headphones for 15 minutes and then she passed the headphones to me...now using those headphones the wire touched my skin too...will i get hpv infection from this incident..Because the wire touched her wart and then touched me...(though i kept making sure the wire dint rub against my skin)...and the fact that she kept touching her wart and then the headphones and then i used them worries me.....i HAVE GOOD NORMAL IMMUNITY AND ENJOY GOOD HEALTH...
will i get hpv from this and what are the chances?
will a single exposure cause hpv to me?Also i dont think i have broken skin on my neck anywhere as far as i know!
I work in a team of seven people in a marketing group.In my team there is a woman who has HPV infection on her neck.As far as i know they are common warts.There are two warts on her neck both on one side.Since we work together we share many objects.
This thing happened and it is worrying me...She was using headphones and the wire of the headphones kept touching her wart and also from time to time she touched the wart and then the headphones...she was using the headphones for 15 minutes and then she passed the headphones to me...now using those headphones the wire touched my skin too...will i get hpv infection from this incident..Because the wire touched her wart and then touched me...(though i kept making sure the wire dint rub against my skin)...and the fact that she kept touching her wart and then the headphones and then i used them worries me.....i HAVE GOOD NORMAL IMMUNITY AND ENJOY GOOD HEALTH...
will i get hpv from this and what are the chances?
will a single exposure cause hpv to me?Also i dont think i have broken skin on my neck anywhere as far as i know!
Brief Answer:
There are no chances of contracting the warts infection in your kind of exposure.
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Welcome and thanks for posting your query to the forum.
I can understand your concern for the warts in your colleague and possible exposure to yourself.
After reading your query with best diligence let me reassure you that there are no chances of contracting the warts infection in your kind of exposure.
Let me tell you certain important points regarding this:
- On neck area in females, generally we find skin tags rather than viral warts. In common layman's language both skin tags and viral warts are synonymously known and only a dermatologist can differentiate both these.
To add on above: viral warts are acuminate and thorn like pointed projections over the skin and are found in closely arranged groups. These are basically infectious only when a close contact with abrasion or open cut from one person to other person is present. That too depends on immunity of the person to contract the virus or not. Even if contracted then to develop the clinical manifestation of the infection.
While on the other side in case of skin tags we find soft rounded projections in scattered form. These are totally non-infectious and never been contracted from one person to the other.
For the best of description of above appearance you can go on internet and see both the things individually by typing: "Viral warts on neck" and compare these from "Skin tags on neck".
This will give you better insight regarding the possible viral wart or skin tags. So just compare both of these with your colleague's eruptions and tell me your observation.
Even then, over and above as I guided you above that your kind of exposure never leads to contracting the infection from one person to other. It is very trivial and normal kind of exposure which every one of us can get exposed to and never causes any infection.
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
There are no chances of contracting the warts infection in your kind of exposure.
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXX,
Welcome and thanks for posting your query to the forum.
I can understand your concern for the warts in your colleague and possible exposure to yourself.
After reading your query with best diligence let me reassure you that there are no chances of contracting the warts infection in your kind of exposure.
Let me tell you certain important points regarding this:
- On neck area in females, generally we find skin tags rather than viral warts. In common layman's language both skin tags and viral warts are synonymously known and only a dermatologist can differentiate both these.
To add on above: viral warts are acuminate and thorn like pointed projections over the skin and are found in closely arranged groups. These are basically infectious only when a close contact with abrasion or open cut from one person to other person is present. That too depends on immunity of the person to contract the virus or not. Even if contracted then to develop the clinical manifestation of the infection.
While on the other side in case of skin tags we find soft rounded projections in scattered form. These are totally non-infectious and never been contracted from one person to the other.
For the best of description of above appearance you can go on internet and see both the things individually by typing: "Viral warts on neck" and compare these from "Skin tags on neck".
This will give you better insight regarding the possible viral wart or skin tags. So just compare both of these with your colleague's eruptions and tell me your observation.
Even then, over and above as I guided you above that your kind of exposure never leads to contracting the infection from one person to other. It is very trivial and normal kind of exposure which every one of us can get exposed to and never causes any infection.
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju
ohk...they are most likely skin tags...
But if they are viral warts...will they be transmitted to me?
But if they are viral warts...will they be transmitted to me?
Brief Answer:
No possibility in your case and your type of exposure.
Detailed Answer:
Dear,
Welcome again to the forum and thanks for your swift follow up.
That is really nice to hear that these are most likely skin tags. As I guided you in my previous mail that over necks area the most common possibility is of skin tags.
Even if we keep a possibility of viral warts then also there is no possibility in your case. Your type of exposure is very simple which all of us have in day to day life. To get viral warts there should be abrasion and then mixing of body fluids containing the virus from one person to other which actually require very close contact.
So I reassure you fully that there are no chances of getting infection by your kind of exposure.
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
No possibility in your case and your type of exposure.
Detailed Answer:
Dear,
Welcome again to the forum and thanks for your swift follow up.
That is really nice to hear that these are most likely skin tags. As I guided you in my previous mail that over necks area the most common possibility is of skin tags.
Even if we keep a possibility of viral warts then also there is no possibility in your case. Your type of exposure is very simple which all of us have in day to day life. To get viral warts there should be abrasion and then mixing of body fluids containing the virus from one person to other which actually require very close contact.
So I reassure you fully that there are no chances of getting infection by your kind of exposure.
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Ashwin Bhandari
what do you mean by close contact..please explain??
and one more risk i had...
Doctor,
i went to a hospital for ENT CHECKUP . The doctor was an ENT specialist.
First of all,i would like to mention that i have a wound inside my nose which was bleeding 50 minutes before i went to the doctor.The wound happened because my nose had become dry and i tries to dig my nose and my nose bled very heavily.
Ohk,then when i went to the doctor for check up, He used instruments clearly unsterilized on me.he used an instrument(cone shape) which he inserted in my ear and after that he used an instrument which he put in my nose to check my nose. he also used an instrument which he placed on my tongue.
before i went in there was another patient..There was at the most a 60 second gap between the instrument used on the other patient and the instrument used on me!
AM i at risk of Stds like Hepatitis C,Hiv and hepatitis B?
and one more risk i had...
Doctor,
i went to a hospital for ENT CHECKUP . The doctor was an ENT specialist.
First of all,i would like to mention that i have a wound inside my nose which was bleeding 50 minutes before i went to the doctor.The wound happened because my nose had become dry and i tries to dig my nose and my nose bled very heavily.
Ohk,then when i went to the doctor for check up, He used instruments clearly unsterilized on me.he used an instrument(cone shape) which he inserted in my ear and after that he used an instrument which he put in my nose to check my nose. he also used an instrument which he placed on my tongue.
before i went in there was another patient..There was at the most a 60 second gap between the instrument used on the other patient and the instrument used on me!
AM i at risk of Stds like Hepatitis C,Hiv and hepatitis B?
Brief Answer:
No chances of any kind of infection in your kind exposure at ENT doctor’s
Detailed Answer:
Hello young fellow,
Welcome again to the forum and thanks for your further follow up.
Regarding your further queries:
“Close contact” to cause the infection means skin to skin contact where there is enough of time to have mixing of body fluids from the infected person to the non infected person. To tell you more for the mixing of body fluids requires cuts or wounds from where there must be oozing of blood or fluids. The time required for the same is multiple of minutes to have mixing of body fluids and contract the infection.
You can get that there is no such close contact to get the infection. So relax about this part.
Now for your next query:
After analyzing the complete query with diligence let me reassure you again that there are no chances of any kind of infection in your kind exposure at ENT doctor’s examination part.
There are various important reasons for the same:
- It is “practically and ethically” not possible that the ENT doctor used unsterilized instruments. I have never seen in any ENT clinical setup of my colleagues where the same instrument is used in different patients. There are set of instruments which are used individually in each patient. I can get form your query that different instruments were used at each examination site of ear, nose and throat. ENT doctors are themselves very vigilant that one instrument should not be used in different patients. You can clear this query from your ENT doctor and I am pretty sure that the doctor will tell you the actual situation with truth. Don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor rather than getting anxious.
- Even if we consider the grim situation that the doctor used the same instrument in you and previous patient then also there are no chances. It is because of the fact that different instruments were used to examine each site.
- For throat : one thing is that the person in general would be healthy or even if consider that the pervious patient was infected with any of sexually transmitted infection or any other infection; then also the saliva in mouth contains so many of enzymes which actually destroys all the infective bacteria and viruses including HIV too.
- In the nose it is just mere touch of the instrument which never can cause such kind of infection. Even if we know that the nose had bleeding wound then also you should make out that the instrument touches the skin only and the bleeding occurs from internal mucosal surface which is out of reach of the instrument.
- For ear cavity also it is touching just the ear canal which is all covered with skin. It is again like touching of one person to another. And you must be knowing very well that HIV never spread by touching!!!
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
So relieve all your stress and just relax
No chances of any kind of infection in your kind exposure at ENT doctor’s
Detailed Answer:
Hello young fellow,
Welcome again to the forum and thanks for your further follow up.
Regarding your further queries:
“Close contact” to cause the infection means skin to skin contact where there is enough of time to have mixing of body fluids from the infected person to the non infected person. To tell you more for the mixing of body fluids requires cuts or wounds from where there must be oozing of blood or fluids. The time required for the same is multiple of minutes to have mixing of body fluids and contract the infection.
You can get that there is no such close contact to get the infection. So relax about this part.
Now for your next query:
After analyzing the complete query with diligence let me reassure you again that there are no chances of any kind of infection in your kind exposure at ENT doctor’s examination part.
There are various important reasons for the same:
- It is “practically and ethically” not possible that the ENT doctor used unsterilized instruments. I have never seen in any ENT clinical setup of my colleagues where the same instrument is used in different patients. There are set of instruments which are used individually in each patient. I can get form your query that different instruments were used at each examination site of ear, nose and throat. ENT doctors are themselves very vigilant that one instrument should not be used in different patients. You can clear this query from your ENT doctor and I am pretty sure that the doctor will tell you the actual situation with truth. Don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor rather than getting anxious.
- Even if we consider the grim situation that the doctor used the same instrument in you and previous patient then also there are no chances. It is because of the fact that different instruments were used to examine each site.
- For throat : one thing is that the person in general would be healthy or even if consider that the pervious patient was infected with any of sexually transmitted infection or any other infection; then also the saliva in mouth contains so many of enzymes which actually destroys all the infective bacteria and viruses including HIV too.
- In the nose it is just mere touch of the instrument which never can cause such kind of infection. Even if we know that the nose had bleeding wound then also you should make out that the instrument touches the skin only and the bleeding occurs from internal mucosal surface which is out of reach of the instrument.
- For ear cavity also it is touching just the ear canal which is all covered with skin. It is again like touching of one person to another. And you must be knowing very well that HIV never spread by touching!!!
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
So relieve all your stress and just relax
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
" I can get form your query that different instruments were used at each examination site of ear, nose and throat"
i would like to explain that i did not imply that the instruments used on me and the previous patient were different. i meant that for my check up of EAR an instrument( a cone shaped structure which went down my ear canal) was used followed by a holder like thing which pressed against(roughly) the upper part of my nostrils followed by the use of an instrument used to lower my toungue to check the throat.
I CLEARLY MENTION THAT DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS WERE NOT USED FOR EAR NOSE AND THROAT CHECK UP OF THE PREVIOUS PATIENT.
" Even if we consider the grim situation that the doctor used the same instrument in you and previous patient then also there are no chances. It is because of the fact that different instruments were used to examine each site."
PLEASE EXPLAIN....THE INSTRUMENTS WERE INSERTED IN THE NOSTIL , IN THE EAR CANAL AND INSIDE THE MOUTH...so they clearly had the saliva and body fluids maybe even blood of the previous patient.
" For throat : one thing is that the person in general would be healthy or even if consider that the pervious patient was infected with any of sexually transmitted infection or any other infection; then also the saliva in mouth contains so many of enzymes which actually destroys all the infective bacteria and viruses including HIV too."
I hope that the person was healthy....but as soon as i walked into the doctors room..the doctor asked his assistant to call the lab and check the patients sample he had collected for hbv and hiv and couple of things i dont remember....hence my anxiousness.
" In the nose it is just mere touch of the instrument which never can cause such kind of infection. Even if we know that the nose had bleeding wound then also you should make out that the instrument touches the skin only and the bleeding occurs from internal mucosal surface which is out of reach of the instrument."
It was not a mere touch in the nose.As i mentioned before the doctor used a clipper(holder) type instrument with which he pushed the upper part of nostril upwars to peek inside and have a look...and it was rough with it.
" For ear cavity also it is touching just the ear canal which is all covered with skin. It is again like touching of one person to another. And you must be knowing very well that HIV never spread by touching!!!"
is the ear canal covered with skin...AND THE DOCTOR PUSHED THAT CONE TYPE STRUCTURE INSIDE MY EAR CANAL SLIGHTLY...WHICH RESULTED IN MY EAR WAX STICKING TO THE OBJECT.DOES EAR WAX SPREAD STDS??
And lastly, i hope the doctor changed his instruments which i m 99%sure he never did...i even asked my mom and she also said she doesnt remember him doing so...infact she mentions tthat she clearly remembers he picked up the same instruments which he had kept on the table.
SO ASSUMING THE WORST...THAT THE PATIENT BEFORE ME HAD STDS ESPECIALLY HEPATITIS C ,HIV AND HEPATITIS B....WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF TRANSMISSION...SHOULD I BE WORRIED?? SHOULD I GET TESTED AND DO YOU KNOW AnYONE WHO HAS CAUGHT HEPATITIS C ,HIV AND HEPATITIS B LIKE THIS...
Also what are the risk of Herpes ,Hpv and syphylis in this case??
NOTE: i read your previous answered questions to other users about stds..and you asked about vaccinations often...and i would like to mention that i was vaccinated for hep b when i was a child but not sure if its still valid.
i look forward to hearing from you and helping me....im kind of scared!!
MOST IMPORTANTLY...
there was a 50 to 70 second(at the most) betwwen the instruments being used on me and the previous patient..i thought that would help you answer the question.
I would like to add that they were the same instruments for me and the previous patient.
i would like to explain that i did not imply that the instruments used on me and the previous patient were different. i meant that for my check up of EAR an instrument( a cone shaped structure which went down my ear canal) was used followed by a holder like thing which pressed against(roughly) the upper part of my nostrils followed by the use of an instrument used to lower my toungue to check the throat.
I CLEARLY MENTION THAT DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS WERE NOT USED FOR EAR NOSE AND THROAT CHECK UP OF THE PREVIOUS PATIENT.
" Even if we consider the grim situation that the doctor used the same instrument in you and previous patient then also there are no chances. It is because of the fact that different instruments were used to examine each site."
PLEASE EXPLAIN....THE INSTRUMENTS WERE INSERTED IN THE NOSTIL , IN THE EAR CANAL AND INSIDE THE MOUTH...so they clearly had the saliva and body fluids maybe even blood of the previous patient.
" For throat : one thing is that the person in general would be healthy or even if consider that the pervious patient was infected with any of sexually transmitted infection or any other infection; then also the saliva in mouth contains so many of enzymes which actually destroys all the infective bacteria and viruses including HIV too."
I hope that the person was healthy....but as soon as i walked into the doctors room..the doctor asked his assistant to call the lab and check the patients sample he had collected for hbv and hiv and couple of things i dont remember....hence my anxiousness.
" In the nose it is just mere touch of the instrument which never can cause such kind of infection. Even if we know that the nose had bleeding wound then also you should make out that the instrument touches the skin only and the bleeding occurs from internal mucosal surface which is out of reach of the instrument."
It was not a mere touch in the nose.As i mentioned before the doctor used a clipper(holder) type instrument with which he pushed the upper part of nostril upwars to peek inside and have a look...and it was rough with it.
" For ear cavity also it is touching just the ear canal which is all covered with skin. It is again like touching of one person to another. And you must be knowing very well that HIV never spread by touching!!!"
is the ear canal covered with skin...AND THE DOCTOR PUSHED THAT CONE TYPE STRUCTURE INSIDE MY EAR CANAL SLIGHTLY...WHICH RESULTED IN MY EAR WAX STICKING TO THE OBJECT.DOES EAR WAX SPREAD STDS??
And lastly, i hope the doctor changed his instruments which i m 99%sure he never did...i even asked my mom and she also said she doesnt remember him doing so...infact she mentions tthat she clearly remembers he picked up the same instruments which he had kept on the table.
SO ASSUMING THE WORST...THAT THE PATIENT BEFORE ME HAD STDS ESPECIALLY HEPATITIS C ,HIV AND HEPATITIS B....WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF TRANSMISSION...SHOULD I BE WORRIED?? SHOULD I GET TESTED AND DO YOU KNOW AnYONE WHO HAS CAUGHT HEPATITIS C ,HIV AND HEPATITIS B LIKE THIS...
Also what are the risk of Herpes ,Hpv and syphylis in this case??
NOTE: i read your previous answered questions to other users about stds..and you asked about vaccinations often...and i would like to mention that i was vaccinated for hep b when i was a child but not sure if its still valid.
i look forward to hearing from you and helping me....im kind of scared!!
MOST IMPORTANTLY...
there was a 50 to 70 second(at the most) betwwen the instruments being used on me and the previous patient..i thought that would help you answer the question.
I would like to add that they were the same instruments for me and the previous patient.
Brief Answer:
Meet your ENT doctor and apprise him the whole series of anxiety.
Detailed Answer:
Dear young fellow,
Welcome again to the forum and thanks for your further follow up.
I can very well understand your concern and anxiety related to the complete incidence and can make out from your complete description that you are really very conscious about the whole series of incidence happened at ENT doctor's check up.
After reading each and every point with diligence I again reassure you that there are no chance of any type infection in your case. I have again talked to my ENT colleagues and personally checked their way of examination. After thoroughly observing the whole procedure I am pretty sure that it can not cause any infection related to sexually transmitted mode.
For the part of doctor talking about HIV and hepatitis in the previous patient: It could be due to the fact that in every patient who is about to undergo some operative procedure, we always go for these kind of tests. So it must be a routine call by the doctor to check for the same.
I again suggest you to meet your ENT doctor and apprise him the whole series of anxiety you are facing after the check up. If I were at your place then must have cleared all my doubts from the treating doctor.
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
Meet your ENT doctor and apprise him the whole series of anxiety.
Detailed Answer:
Dear young fellow,
Welcome again to the forum and thanks for your further follow up.
I can very well understand your concern and anxiety related to the complete incidence and can make out from your complete description that you are really very conscious about the whole series of incidence happened at ENT doctor's check up.
After reading each and every point with diligence I again reassure you that there are no chance of any type infection in your case. I have again talked to my ENT colleagues and personally checked their way of examination. After thoroughly observing the whole procedure I am pretty sure that it can not cause any infection related to sexually transmitted mode.
For the part of doctor talking about HIV and hepatitis in the previous patient: It could be due to the fact that in every patient who is about to undergo some operative procedure, we always go for these kind of tests. So it must be a routine call by the doctor to check for the same.
I again suggest you to meet your ENT doctor and apprise him the whole series of anxiety you are facing after the check up. If I were at your place then must have cleared all my doubts from the treating doctor.
I hope above information will relax your mind. I will be glad to guide you any further.
With regards,
Dr Sanjay Kanodia
MD-DERMATOLOGY & Sexually transmitted diseases
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
