The Elisabeth-Tweesteden Hospital (ETZ) in Tilburg will investigate whether it is true that people in nightlife are pricked with a hypodermic needle and injected with drugs. That is why the ETZ has come up with a special protocol stating what employees should do if people come forward who think this has happened to them. In doing so, the ETZ is responding to the worrying reports of ‘needle spiking’. “It is still unclear whether the stories are correct, but we take all reports seriously.”
Lately, there have been several reports that people have been pricked with a needle and have something injected. In Kaatsheuvel, six people reported to the first aid post during the Pleinfestival last Saturday, because they suspected that they had been stung or pricked. An 18-year-old woman became unwell and had to be hospitalized.
But evidence is lacking and so far not a single case has been confirmed.
It has been proposed a few times that people report to the ETZ because they think they have been stung and do not feel well. “Whether it is fear or whether it is real, we don’t know yet,” says Liesbeth de Vos, doctor at the emergency department. The hospital does take all reports seriously. “People don’t just make this up.”
“There is a chance that someone has been pricked with a dirty needle.”
According to De Vos of the ETZ, there are two problems with needle spiking. “Perhaps something has been injected into the victims and there is intoxication, poisoning. And there is also a chance that someone has been pricked with a dirty needle. This can be dangerous, because someone can become infected with HIV or hepatitis.”
The doctor emphasizes that the risk of infection is low. “In general, it is a small injection, with short contact, so the chance of infection is very small.” The ETZ offers people a hepatitis B vaccination. “We also recommend taking an HIV test and a hepatitis C test after three months.”
The urine of people who suspect that they have been pricked and who report complaints to the hospital will be examined. “We test the urine for the most common drugs,” says De Vos.
“It is a very small amount of a substance, and that is difficult to find.”
Yet it is difficult to determine whether someone has actually been drugged. “People often only come to the emergency room after a few hours,” says De Vos. “And it would be a very short injection, so you can’t inject a lot of liquid. So it is a very small amount of a substance and that is difficult to find. It may even have disappeared from your body. ”
According to the doctor, finding the puncture hole is also very difficult, because the needle is very small.
“The focus on ‘needle spiking’ stirs fear in many people.”
With a summer full of festivals and other festive events approaching, the hospital wants to be ready for possible drugging. “We expect that more people with complaints will report to us. I am a little concerned about it, because there is now a lot of attention for the phenomenon. This stirs fear in many people.”
The ETZ wants to share the protocol with other hospitals in Brabant.