Depressed

[Kya]

Hello guys ,i have a question.today while walking with my sister i felt a prick under my foot.i look down and realised it was something that looked like a bobby pin i picked it trying to figure out what it was but i could not it looked like a bobby pin or some pin i do not know,then i threw it away then realised that there were semi dried blood like stains on my thumb i did not think much about it until i tried to think about where i could have got some semi dry blood thats when i remembered the pin that had pricked me now am depressed i do not know if i should go and look for PEP or what to do ,if this was semi dried blood from the pin that pricked me am i in danger of getting hiv am sorry if my question sounds crazy but i really do not know what to think..thank you

[Jim Allen]

Hi

Relax, Nothing you mentioned was a HIV transmission risk. None.

Jim

[Kya]

Ohhh wow really so even if the blood got into me it does not matter ?sorry if i sound like a broken record but i just want to be sure thats what you meant mind if i ask why sharp things and needles are considered a way of hiv transmission if mine was not a risk ?

[Jim Allen]

Firstly understand that although HIV transmission is a risk between people who share drug rigs, there has actually never been a recorded case of HIV transmission from a discarded needle or sharp.

In short the reason sharing syringes is a blood risk is it's directly injecting a quantity of blood (backwash) into the blood stream that has been short term stored in what is in essence a vacuum. A sharp object, needle, lancet or pin as examples on the other hand are nothing like a syringe, there is no backwash stored in a vacuum and no more than a drop of blood that is exposed to the environment.

HIV is simply far to fragile to survive in the small blood sample on a lancet/pin or tip of a sharp object, it is exposed outside the human body to the environment and once hiv finds itself exposed outside the body, small changes in temperature, pH / moisture levels  damage the outer receptors that the virus uses to infect human cells and thus renders it unable to infect.

So to answer your question

sorry if i sound like a broken record but i just want to be sure thats what you meant mind if i ask why sharp things and needles are considered a way of hiv transmission if mine was not a risk ?

No its not considered a way of transmission by anyone informed and hence nobody has been infected this way and neither will you.
Recently I posted a link on this as it happened to mentioned on a site posting regarding the 5 weirdest myths and HIV.  https://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=68627.0

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, every time, no exceptions.

Keep in mind that some sexual practices which may be described as ‘safe’ in terms of HIV transmission might still pose a risk for transmission of other STI's, so please do get fully tested regularly and at least yearly for all STI's including but not limited to HIV and test more frequently if unprotected intercourse occurs

Also note that it is possible to have an STI and show no signs or symptoms and the only way of knowing is by testing.

More information on HIV Basics, PEP, TaSP and Transmission can be found through the links in my signature to our POZ pages, this includes information on HIV Testing

Kind regards

Jim

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[Kya]

Owww wow i guess i just learnt something today,Thank you very much you have really helped me

[Jim Allen]

You're welcome.