Worried....

[bojangles153]

Hey, how's it giong?  So I've been kind of lurking around these forums for a bit after an internet search....I basically had two questions/issues I was worried about ....

1 - i was at a bar and reached out to grab some tissues to clean my face/ nose  and when i looked down at the napkin after, there was a significant amount of blood on the tissues (or what appeared to be blood).... I am 100% sure it did not come from me - my nose was not bleeding, and there was no blood at all in my nasal canal - anyway, i was worried bc my nose is a mucous membrane....should i be concerned at all? if the blood happened to be from an hiv positive person, is it possible to be transmitted in such a way? should i schedule testing?

2 - skin is a good barrier against transmission, right? (obv. not including mucous membranes)

I thank you in advance for your time/help in this matter.  I consider myself mildly intelligent and am tempted to think this may be more anxiety than anything else, but i am legitimately concerned and want to know if in fact i should schedule testing and be concerned. thank you.

[Ann]

Bo,

No, you did not have a risk and you don't need to test. Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body as in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse where the virus never leaves the confines of the two bodies.

Once outside the body, small changes in temperature, and pH and moisture levels all quickly damage the virus and render it unable to infect. For this reason, hiv cannot be transmitted from objects in the environment, such as the tissue, regardless of whether or not it was blood on it.

Skin is an excellent barrier against hiv. Hiv can only infect a very few, very specific types of cells and these cells are not found on the surface of the skin.

Here's what you need to know in order to remain hiv negative:

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together.

To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results.

Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann

[bojangles153]

I think I"m a pretty introspective person....

I think this shows perhaps an unhealthy level of anxiety....?
Any thoughts?  Or was this a normal fear? 

[RapidRod]

I think I"m a pretty introspective person....

I think this shows perhaps an unhealthy level of anxiety....?
Any thoughts?  Or was this a normal fear? 

Just uneducated in HIV transmission.

[bojangles153]

So I read the transmission link....makes alot of sense...I think it is some anxiety I'm dealing with....

the second question I had, which i didn't post in my original post....

i was at work and had a big cut on my hand, and ended up touching a doorknob that looked like there was blood on it - while i realize it may have been my blood, i was concerned about that encounter ....

after reading up a little, i would presume even if it was hiv+ blood from someone else that was just there before me taht touched the knob, I would still have absolutely nothing to worry about because the virus is deactivated outside teh body? that sound like a good eval? and nothing to worry about?  thanks.

[Ann]

Bo,

You've already been told that you cannot be infected with hiv from objects in the environment, and that includes doorknobs. Even if they're covered in blood.

Ann

[bojangles153]

So the reason I asked the question about skin in an earlier post is bc of the other fear I have....

so i work at a hospital as a volunteer during the summer....i had a large cut on one of my hands that stopped bleeding the night before- as described in my above post - anyway, the next day, while prepping a patient we were taking downstairs, i got some of her blood on that hand - i wasn't wearing gloves at the time as i didn't think in transporting her i'd need them....anyway, i washed my hands off right away.....some of the pt. blood got on/in the area of the cut - but the cut, again, was not actively bleeding....

so do i have anything to worry about?
should i test?
thanks.

[Ann]

Bo,

No, you do not need to worry as I already told you. Skin is an amazing organ (yes, it's considered an organ) and as soon as a cut appears, the skin is busy closing it up. If you were wandering around in a hospital with an uncovered cut on your hand and weren't worried about picking up a bacterial infection, then you've got no reason to worry about hiv either.

Ann

[bojangles153]

so even if it was a good amount of blood, and the person had hiv, and it got on top of the area of my cut, i still wouldn't have to worry/test?  so as long as it's not actively bleeding, no risk?

[bojangles153]

sorry - don't mean to be a pest - just need to wrap my head around this before i go nuts...

so even if a good volume of hiv+ blood got on the portion of my hand that had a sizeable cut less than 24 hours previous, i still don't have ANYthing to worry about and I Absolutely don't need to test for HIV as a result of this specific incident?  thanks guys.  seriously - i really appreciate your help.

[Ann]

Bo,

NO! If you had a fresh, deep, heavily bleeding cut and you rubbed it together with someone else's fresh, deep, heavily bleeding cut, you might have a problem. But not at all with what you're talking about. The healing process had already begun hours earlier and there would be no access to the type of cell that hiv can infect.

And you've already been told that blood lying around outside someone's body on doorknobs or whatever cannot infect you. Hiv is too fragile for that. Re-read your entire thread.

If you read the Welcome Thread before posting like you're supposed to, you will have read the following posting guideline:

Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situations, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.

Please consider yourself warned!

Ann