I am surprised it took so long since I have been bitten almost every day since I got here 2 months ago. The first fever happened 3 days ago in the afternoon, but it wasn't very intense. It was followed by intense chills a few hours later which preceded a horrible night of sweating that left both pillows and the sheet soaked. I got tested for Malaria the next morning, but the results were negative. My condition improved and it seemed like I had killed whatever was killing me. Then, 48 hours later, I had another horrible night that left the bed soaked again. This cyclical pattern is one of the hallmarks of Malaria.
So, I decided to get tested again and went to the best hospital in Liberia where I have direct access to the lab. My confidence was boosted when the most experienced technician volunteered to perform the test. The first thing I noticed was that she wasn't wearing gloves. The next thing I noticed was that she was going to miss my blood vessel which was clearly bulging just to the left of the needle. When she realized the mistake, she proceeded to introduce ¾ of a 2 inch needle all the way into my arm. Ouch!!! That hurt like a bitch! Still no blood, though. She then pulled the needle, but went too far out and stopped just when the sharp tip of the needle was half way out. At this point, I was bleeding profusely and she was freaking out trying to dry the blood out with cotton balls. One after another, cotton balls soaked in blood were thrown on the floor. There was so much blood that her bare fingers – remember she wasn't wearing gloves – were covered in blood. Unbelievable!! Meanwhile, she was unaware of the fact that the sharp tip of the needle was stretching my skin so much that it felt like it was going to rip it off. I was about to intervene when she pulled the needle out and I took control of the cotton balls. I thought she was going to do it all again, but she replied that the three drops she got in the syringe were enough to run the Malaria tests. I happened to spend the day in that lab because of a training I was facilitating and those bloody cotton balls were never cleaned off the floor…
Do you understand why I am here now? If this is among the best labs in the country, try to imagine how the worst labs operate…
Illustration above by Raymond Verdaguer (http://www.rverdaguer.com/)
And you didn't tell her to wear gloves?
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