To the Editor: A 27-year-old hospital medical officer received a penetrating needlestick injury to her left hand, drawing blood, after using a 22-gauge needle to deroof a vesicle for diagnosis in a two-year-old patient with orolabial herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The medical officer had no significant medical history, took no regular medication, and had no previous history of oral or genital herpes.
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We thank Mr Peter Farkas, Clinical Photographer at Royal Darwin Hospital.