Mom: Lynn baby in needle flap OK

LYNN – A 1-year-old boy who picked up a syringe with an exposed needle last week in a local park and put it in his mouth is in good health, his mother said Wednesday, but the child will continue to be tested for possible disease exposure for a year.”Everything’s fine right now, but I’m worried. I can’t sleep at night,” Christina Eichel said.Salem Hospital nurses tested her youngest son, Miguel Vizcaino, last Tuesday for Hepatitis B, HIV antibody and any other indications that the boy might have been exposed to another person’s bodily fluids after the boy picked up a syringe with the exposed needle while on one of the Strawberry Avenue playground’s slides at Ames Park.Eichel turned away from the boy to help her older son climb onto the slide and, when she turned around, the child had put the syringe in his mouth.She immediately called Salem Hospital and medical personnel told her to bring Miguel to Salem at once for testing. Police helped her search for the syringe after she grabbed it from her son and threw it, but a search did not locate the syringe.Eichel said her 1-year-old must have blood drawn every six weeks for up to a year in order to monitor his health.The incident prompted Eichel, 22, to slap posters warning other parents about playground needle dangers in Ames and she organized a playground cleanup last week, removing “nip”-size alcohol containers and other debris from the playground.”There should be more of this and police should be watching the parks in the morning,” she said Wednesday.Lynn and other communities maintain needle collection locations with the city’s located in the first floor City Hall clinic. Health Director Maryann O’Connor said the city needle collector fills up every week.Lynn Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said Wednesday that every city police cruiser is equipped with a needle box to dispose of used syringes.”We will come and pick (needles up) but it’s more of a public-health hazard than a law enforcement issue,” Coppinger said.The chief said police do all they can to enforce drug laws, but part of the problem, he said, is that “needles are legal now.”Needles are available to addicts through several organizations in Lynn, he said, since the state-approved clean needle exchange pilot program took effect nearly a decade ago.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected]. Sean Leonard can be reached at [email protected].