• Question: Is it dangerous to work with blood cells? What can happen?

    Asked by Alexiadepablo to Sian, Max, Lizzie, Francis, Ben on 8 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Francis Man

      Francis Man answered on 8 Mar 2018:

      It could be dangerous if the cells were infected and you injected yourself. For example if you worked with blood of a patient that has malaria or HIV, there is a risk of contaminating yourself. It is a very small risk, but it does exist. We have to be careful when working with blood and needles, and make sure to decontaminate everything afterwards.

    • Photo: Lizzie Wright

      Lizzie Wright answered on 10 Mar 2018:

      Yes, the risk is small and w normally have to have some vaccinations prior to working with blood to protect from things like Hepatitis B. Usually blood samples are harmless though as we work in very controlled environments.

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