Q: I am in a state of fear and anxiety as I went to a diagnostic centre where the needle which was used was sterile but due to my over-smartness it touched the table. I fear the table might have been infected with HIV blood. This fear of infection is troubling me a lot. I am presuming there must have been a small spot of blood which must have touched the needle. To clear this doubt I again went there with a dispovan syringe. I took the needle out of the cap. Now I asked the technician to give me a fresh cap of the vacutainer needle they use. They have a holder to fit the needle, one part goes into the vein and on the other side test tube is attached. The blood flows inside the test tube. Now the technician burnt the needle and kept the fresh cap on the table. My fear starts from the fact that I was trying to pierce this cap with the fresh dispovan and in this process I got a prick on my finger. The needle was fresh and so was the cap but both of them touched the table. I had very minute bleeding and now fear since it is a collection centre and lot of patients come to give blood. I am assuming that the cap must have got infected. I consulted a leading dermatologist who said HIV is not possible in such a way as for a needle injury, a minimum quantity of blood has to be there. Another HIV specialist at Apollo hospital says the needle should remain in contact with blood for at least half hour and only then is infection possible. I am 32 and want to get married but currently am in a state of anxiety and depression. Kindly advise.

A:I am sure you will realise that I can not give you a definite Yes/No as I was not there and did not myself see if there was any chance of infection. However, I am almost certain that there was no chance of infection and that you should not worry. Certainly plan to get married and have a good life. However, if you can not get rid of the worry, get a test done. Generally the test can only be done after some weeks, preferably 12 weeks. There is a test known as the PCR which can give you an answer now, however it is expensive and difficult to get. I do not think you could have got infected. Stop worrying.