I am not an ID specialist but an educated person and licensed nurse. This GA teen insists she is a virgin (though I know teens that only consider lady partsl intercourse as losing virginity, oral & anal sexual acts "don't count") and never used IV drugs. She's insistent she contracted HIV after the needle used to sew her weave to her hair "punctured her scalp leaving scabs".
According to the teeanager, while receiving the sew in weave, her scalp was was punchered several times with the needle, causing bleeding in the scalp which later became scab wounds. I didn't think nothing of it, it's happened before whenever I've gotten a sew in†says the teenager. Three weeks after getting the sew in weave, the teenager began to experience flu-like symptoms accompanied with aching muscles and rash. The girl entered the emergency room one night where several test were performed and questions were asked. She was released from the hospital. A week later, her mother received a call from a nurse urging them to come back to the hospital. I was in disbelief. Total shock. I kept saying how can I have AIDS when I'm a virgin. That's when the nurses asked me several questions and thats how I remember being wounded with the weave needle†recalls the teen.
Got my flu shot yesterday....crap, there goes my cruise in July lol
Hopefully the kid comes clean with her doc at some point. Sad.
Agreed, especially considering whoever she contracted it from needs treatment too, for their own health and the health of anyone else they're exposing.
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
It should be noted that even in healthcare settings transmission of HIV through tainted implements is exceptionally rare, and no corresponding news stories or police reports matched the claim about dirty needles and a sew-in weave (despite the fact an infection that occurred in that fashion would be very newsworthy). In terms of folklore, the story closely resembled extant urban legends about insects in hairstyles or weaves and a more recent rumor about lice in eyelash extensions. (All of which implicitly cast aspersions on the merits of vanity, and are inherently critical of women of color who often rely on such services more heavily due to cultural pressure.)
I was also thinking the time frame of a couple of weeks and feeling symptoms didn't sound right. I always thought it was around 6 months to start feeling symptoms but I could be wrong. Thanks Esme, I was going to check snopes but you did it for me.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
But a weave needle? Not likely...
Your point is clearly salient. Weave needles are too dull to puncture one's scalp.
I should know...I am currently wearing a sew-in weave as I type this post. I get sew-in-weaves installed regularly and have never been punctured. A hairdresser who punctures a client with a weave needle is purposely attempting to stick the client. Hence, the girl's story is bogus.
I was also thinking the time frame of a couple of weeks and feeling symptoms didn't sound right. I always thought it was around 6 months to start feeling symptoms but I could be wrong. Thanks Esme, I was going to check snopes but you did it for me.
The story may be a hoax, but at least it opens up the opportunity to discuss infection control /disease prevention with people who might not have been listening before!
Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN
11,305 Posts
I guess I'll have to take protection tomorrow when I get my flu shot. Shoot - my best friend just left to get hers and I don't have time to warn her!!