POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: hairhelp on December 08, 2006, 08:07:18 pm
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I am a hairdresser by trade and the other day I was doing a persons hair who has excema. I did not know it prior to starting. I braided for a while and as a result received two cuts on my hand from the hair. The persons scalp was bleeding a little in some spots and now I am concerned because I may have put myself at risk. I was told by my local health department that I may need to be tested. I was talking with one of my friends and she said this was a great sight to check with and that the health departments are usually conservative with risk. I was just wondering how much risk am I at. Does this type episode require testing. Please help I cannot concentrate because of the worrying.
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No, you did not have a risk. No testing is required.
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That eases my mind a great deal. The lady at the health dept scared me to death about my risk. Said it was high because of the cuts on my fingers and the fact the girls head was bleeding.
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Very unfortunately those at health departments and other vital information sources are often ill-informed for their positions.
You absolutely were not at risk, just as Rod has told you. Please read the lesson on Transmission on this site. You can find a link to it in the Welcome thread which opens this section.
Getting the basic information down will help to spare you unnecessary now and in the future as well as educating you about the real risks.
This time out you're good to go.
Cheers,
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Thanks guys. I just have one more question. I know my hand was bleedin from the two cuts I received, and that the girls scalp wa bleeding. Dose this not constitute blood conact, or does it have to be a greater amount.
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This still remains in the "theoretical" rather than "actual" risk category. There would have to be significant amounts of blood pouring from a known HIV+ person into an open wound of the other person. See what I mean?
There have been countless thousands of nicks, cuts, bruises, wounds and other barber-related situations and there's never been a documented case of transmission in this manner. I don't expect you to make history by becoming the first. This is really about fears about HIV rather than a real risk.
I don't see any need for concern nor for testing.
Cheers,
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Thank you. I am going to attempt to get that phrase through my head and stop having the what if's. I guess its just fear.
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It's weird that people worry about HIV from such a nothing incident (given HIV is very hard to transmit) but aren't concerned about Hepatitis - which is a much easier blood borne disease to catch. For the record you weren't at risk for Hep either, I am just curious why people worry about HIV so much...
Rich
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It's weird that people worry about HIV from such a nothing incident (given HIV is very hard to transmit) but aren't concerned about Hepatitis - which is a much easier blood borne disease to catch. For the record you weren't at risk for Hep either, I am just curious why people worry about HIV so much...
Rich
Coz Getting hepatitis is nothing compared to getting HIV. Getting HIV will completely alter ones life (especially in the place that I live in, ie middle east)...It will end hopes of work, marriage,living in another country and many other things...Hepatitis will not do that
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Getting hepatitis is nothing compared to getting HIV.
If you haven't had hepatitis then I'm here to tell you, you don't don't know what you are talking about.
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I guess watching all the television shows were they make it seem that HIV can be caught so easily and the huge precautions that the CDC and health departments take can be blamed for a lot of the fears. When I went there they scared me to death about how real my risk was and that testing was warranted and even that there are cases of transmission in this manner. I belive this is what really reaked me out. Not in the 10 years that I have been braiding hair did I even think this was possible but I guess I just freaked when I saw the ladys scalp bleeding a little and the cut on my hand. Thanks for the comfort and the slap back into reality. :)
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How is it that a client at our shop contracted a fever blister from some clippers that was not properly sterilized, and used their lip was at risk for hiv but not from the episode I described from braiding the girls hair. We had the health department all over us.
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I have no idea where you are getting your information, but it is WRONG. She would not contracted HIV from an enviromental surface. HSV1 is common in over half the population.
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The health department. They made us responsible for the lpersons medical bills and PEP if they elected, which they opted out. Told us that the person we previously used the clippers on had HSV and we spreaded it to the lclient putting them at risk also for hiv because his lip could have been pricket with clippers causung access to the exchange of body fluids.
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HSV is not found in the hair on your head. HSV1 is found around the mouth, face, eyes and genital area. Read the transmission section of this website before you continue to post again.
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I never said HSV1 was found in hair. What I said was that while one of our clients wyas being trimmed around the lips by the barber, they contracted HSV1 from the clippers. Mybe I should have said trimmers. That is were they contracted the blister. The health dept just told us that as a result of not properly sanitizing our equipment we put them at risk for the blister because a previous client had one. They ere just saying this could have made her open to hiv also due to the chance of blood being exchanged.
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More than likely that is not the way they contracted HSV. Unless they had tested the week before there is no possible way of knowing.
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So the fact that that happened would not make them open for hiv from those clippers if they had been cleaned incorrectly and their may have been possible blood. If that is the case, we shoulld have never been made to cover the medical cost and subjected to the scrutiny we experienced.
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No! Please read the transmission link in the welcome thread. You don't get HIV from environmental surfaces.
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Hair,
That's right, it sounds like the health department needs to learn a few facts about hiv transmission. They also need to learn a thing or two about herpes transmission and infection as well. There is no way on earth it could have been proven that this guy got herpes from your clippers. No way.
Ann
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I am so scared, I have just been diagnosed with oral thrush. I have neever had this before. I don't know what to do. I tried to stay away from this site but this diagnosis has scared me to death. What if I did become infected. Just needed some encouragement.
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Don't tell me, let me guess, you think you have HIV because you have thrush?
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Actually, I dont know what to think. Sorry if I am bothering you guys.