Boy pricked by syringe in playground

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OAKLAND, Calif., May 4 (UPI) -- The family of a 7-year-old boy who stuck himself with a syringe he found in an Oakland, Calif., playground faces months of uncertainty, a school official says.

The child has been tested for diseases carried in blood, the Oakland Tribune reported. But some like the HIV virus that causes AIDS do not show up in tests for weeks or months after exposure.

The boy found the syringe April 25 outside the Highland Child Development Center, which is around the corner from his school and runs pre- and after-school programs. Tony Flint, the school district spokesman, said all parents should have been notified immediately but were not.

The school sent a letter Thursday apologizing for the delay.

Flint said the boy gave the syringe to his mother, who reported it to the center. The boy was given first aid at the center and then sent to Children's Hospital for an examination and tests.