Things You Catch in Police Stations
| Published date | 01 July 1985 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8505800305 |
| Date | 01 July 1985 |
| Author | D. Broughton |
| Subject Matter | Article |
D.
BROUGHTON
THINGS
YOU
CATCH IN
POLICE
STATIONS
In my medical
student
days
the
euphemistically termed "social
diseases" were syphilis
and
gonorrhoea,
which were
caught
in public
conveniences.
Things
have
changed,
the
modern
social diseases
are
hepatitis type B
and
AIDS,
which
can
be
caught
in police stations.
There
are
various types of hepatitis, in this article hepatitis means
viral hepatitis type B.
Although
different diseases, hepatitis
and
AIDS
have
striking
similarities
both
in
their
mode
of
spread
and
therefore
precautions
against
them.
Both
are
virus diseases with long
incubation
periods, six weeks to six
months
for
hepatitis, up to
about
four
years
for
AIDS;
antibiotics
are
not
effective in
treatment,
and
both
are
quite
difficult to
catch
since viruses
are
delicate
organisms
which
are
easily killed.
Both
are
probably
meant
to be venereal diseases. By this I
mean
that
intimate
bodily
contact
is the
commonest
way of
catching
them.
Certainly,
they
may
be passed by
transfusion
of
blood
or
injection
of
other
body
fluids, but this is unlikely in nature, since it
depends
on
the
prior
invention
oftransfusion
and
injection which
are
not
natural
processes. Hepatitis,
and
probably
AIDS,
can be passed
from
mother
to
baby
and
by
shared
razors,
toothbrushes,
and
towels.
Those at risk
It
follows
that
those at risk
are
those
vunerable
to venereal infection,
the
risk increasing with
promiscuity
and
apparently
with
homosexuality,
which
may
be the
same
thing,
and
those
at risk of
inoculation
by infected material.
This
latter
group
includes recipients
of
blood
and
blood
products,
those
infected by unsterile
tattoo
and
acupuncture
needles
and
ear
piercers,
and
abusers
of
intravenous
drugs
who
use
and
even
share
filthy needles
and
syringes.
It
also
includes police officers
cut
or
scratched
by infected
sharp
objects, especially if
contaminated
by
blood. Watches, rings,
and
even handcuffs
may
be significant.
Virus of
both
diseases is present in the
blood
and
saliva of infective
individuals.
Hepatitis
virus is present in virtually all
body
fluids
and
secretions
and
it will be
surprising
if this is
not
eventually
found
true
for
AIDS.
However,
neither virus seems likely to
penetrate
through
intact
skin
nor
to be
transmitted
by urine, faeces, or aerosols
from
coughs
and
sneezes. Social
contact
such as
sharing
the same
room,
talking,
shaking
hands,
with a
carrier
is
thought
safe.
The
final risk
factor
for
comment
is the
odd
geographical
behaviour
of
both
diseases. In general, where hepatitis is
commonest
the age of victims is low
and
the
proportion
of carriers high.
It
is
224
Julv
1985
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