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Author Topic: HIV + blood  (Read 5767 times)

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Offline michael20

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HIV + blood
« on: December 03, 2008, 02:11:52 pm »
Quick Background:

Helped a man who had just got beaten up get off the ground. While doing so I noticed i had some of his blood on my fingernail. He informed me that he was HIV + and i hurried into a bathroom and immediately washed off the blood.

Now My Question

Do I need to be tested? (I realize that skin is an effective barrier to HIV, however, im not sure if the same is true for the fingernail. I was thinkig maybe HIV could enter the blood stream where your nail meets your skin.)

 

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2008, 02:37:46 pm »
Michael, you are worrying needlessly. HIV is a fragile virus and not easily transmitted. In ordinary life settings such as you have described as well as from other environmental surfaces the risk is strictly theoretical. In the real world of HIV it just doesn't happen that way.

There's no need for testing nor for further concern on your part about this incident. If you haven't already read our lession on TRANSMISSION, I recommend that you do so. There's a link to it in the thread which opens this section.

Cheers.
Andy Velez

Offline michael20

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Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2008, 12:49:46 am »
Thanks Andy, I appreciate your reply

I have decided to test anyway just to have peace of mind, I was wondering if i should insist on having a test done for hiv 2 as well, not sure if the test will test for both

Offline RapidRod

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Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2008, 12:51:39 am »
No need for any testing.

Offline Ann

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  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2008, 07:44:22 am »
Michael,

ABSOLUTELY no need for any hiv testing, as Rodney says.

Last spring I was involved in an accident where I was unconscious and bleeding profusely from a head wound. A friend of mine cradled my bloody head in his hands until the ambulance arrived. His hands were covered in my blood and he had no reason to test - and neither do you. We give risk assessments out here from a combination of knowing the science of hiv transmission and REAL LIFE experience.

You did NOT have a risk.

You do NOT need to test.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline michael20

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  • Posts: 6
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2008, 12:11:07 am »
Sorry for being a pest guys but I have never really thought much about HIV and ever since I got blood on my hand I have been thinking other ways I could have got it. I could only think of one more possible way and I was wondering if you guys could tell me how much of a risk I had.

On Halloween day I tripped and fell and stopped myself with my hand. This caused a very large abrasion about the size of a penny and pretty deep to form right under my index finger. The next day without even thinking i started fingering my gf at the time. I recall stopping because my hand hurt and then i remembered about the cut. There is no doubt that vaginal secretions would have gotten on my cut. Again I know intact skin is an effective barrier and I also know nobody has ever gotten infected from fingering but surely my case is different. This was a huge cut that definately got vaginal fluids on it. I know it was a day later and it was not bleeding but because of the size it wasnt scabbed over so im just not sure if i had a risk or not. Thanks a lot to whoever answers. Just finished exams today and this HIV business is my last bit of stress so im hoping to put it all behind me.

Offline RapidRod

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Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2008, 04:12:22 am »
Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, 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.

Offline Ann

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  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2008, 06:44:16 am »
Michael,

Hiv is transmitted through unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse - or sharing needles to inject drugs. Fingering, with or without a cut, is NOT a risk for hiv infection.

Along with reading the Transmission Lesson linked to in our Welcome Thread, 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 with a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

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

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO TEST OVER ANYTHING YOU'VE BROUGHT TO THIS FORUM, 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
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline michael20

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  • Posts: 6
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2008, 08:11:04 pm »
I understand the rules and I would not have posted if I had of known that it was a no-risk situation. So just so I am clear, no testing would be necessary for these two situations?

Seeing as this will probably be my last post here, i hope everyone has a merry christmas!

Offline Ann

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  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2008, 08:20:26 pm »
Michael,

Re-read your thread. It's pretty clear that you don't need testing.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline michael20

  • Member
  • Posts: 6
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2009, 09:37:33 pm »
Hi again guys,

After testing negative from my last incident I have had another one that I am worried about. With my current girlfriend we have used condoms everytime for vaginal sex, however, on New Years eve we engaged in frottage. I was rubbing my penis on the outside of her vagina for a good few minutes and I am not sure if my penis slipped in or not. She has had only one sex partner besides be her entire life and I was just wondering what my risk here is.

Thanks,

Offline RapidRod

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Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #11 on: January 27, 2009, 10:20:06 pm »
Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, 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.

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #12 on: January 27, 2009, 10:40:52 pm »
Frottage, mutual masturbation and just about anything else you can think of sexually are not risks for HIV transmission.

It's really quite simple in terms of risk: the only proven risks for HIV transmission are unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. Everything else is strictly theoretical in terms of risk. Keep using condoms and you will be well protected.

Now get on with your life. Really.
Andy Velez

Offline michael20

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  • Posts: 6
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2009, 05:00:22 pm »
I realise I need to get on with life, but this whole HIV thing can be really scary at times. Im a little confused, if my penis did accidently slip in for a few seconds, wouldn't this be the same as unprotected sex? Thus, be a risk?

Offline RapidRod

  • Member
  • Posts: 15,288
Re: HIV + blood
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2009, 05:12:59 pm »
Had your penis slipped in, then you would have know. Then that is what you would have put in your thread.

 


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