I can assure you that at least in one case a needle was inserted into a seat cushion and pointing UP at San Francisco International Airport in the late 1990's. My good friend and co-worker sat on it, it drew blood, and she was tested for AIDS and hepatitis for the next six months or so. The worst part of this "hoax" is that she was at that time in treatment for very aggressive "explosive" breast cancer, had already undergone a double mastectomy, a hysterectomy and an oopharectomy, AND chemotherapy and radiation. This "hoax" almost sent her around the bend. Thank God I was with her when it happened and was able to calm her down, reassuring her, as others have mentioned here on this forum, that the chances of contracting a blood borne disease from an OLD needle are indeed slim.
Mary Jane is alive and well, thank God and Stanford University Medical Center, raising her four sons (their father was a US Air pilot, killed in a crash). She can tell you that Mario's warning is no hoax.
Viviana
Santosh Helekar wrote:
--- Mario Goveia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Whether the memo I circulated was false or not, allhorrific
it did was to warn people to watch their behinds when
they sit in a public place. What has amazed me is
how this simple common sense warning, about a
possibility whether unintentional or deliberate.
Gabriel de Figueredo wrote:
The original may have been a spoof or not.
It is hard to understand why anybody would be so defensive about an alarmist chain letter hoax. There is no uncertainty about its falsity or spoofiness, whatsoever. This was indeed a spoof of the most despicable variety. Many anti-spam watch-dog sites and public health agencies, such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have issued statements against the dissemination of this urban legend. The general fact that there is a small risk of blood-borne viral diseases from discarded needles, is no cover for this pathetic act of fabrication.
Cheers,
Santosh
