Can HIV Be Contracted Through Skin Contact With Another's Blood?
Your HIV risk is negligible.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome to HCM.
Thanks for posting your query.
First of all some one's blood is not necessarily an HIV infected person's blood. If it is true you have no risk for HIV at all.
Even if we consider that it was an infected person's blood, HIV can not enter an intact skin.
Contact with someone's blood 8 hours after the testing site has negligible risk as per CDC, XXXXXXX USA. (https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/estimates/riskbehaviors.html) (http://www.thebody.com/content/68450/hiv-transmission-risk-chart.html) As per the above references, even a percutaneous needle stick injury carry a risk 23 per 10000 exposures, not all the exposures.
Contact with a drop of blood has no risk. But over the testing site the risk can be taken as negligible. If it has a high risk, by this time, all the medical lab workers throughout the world would have become HIV positive as they would have come across such situations so frequently. Thank God, it is no so.
Dr S.Murugan
Testing for HIV will relieve the mental tension.
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome back.
You had not mentioned anything about your TB test. Whether it is Mantoux test or blood drawn for some other TB testing.?
If it is over the Mx test area or needle prick site then your risk is negligible. It the blood dropped in normal skin then your HIV risk is almost 'nil'.
When the risk is negligible there is nothing wrong to have HIV testing 12 weeks after the incident to clear our doubt and rule out this negligible possibility. It will relieve your unnecessary mental tension.
Dr S.Murugan
Patient Says: I was also scared that it could be rubbed off his clothes onto my site.
HIV risk is negligible only
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Welcome back.
That blood spilled over forearm and clothes is not necessarily a HIV positive blood.
Blood spilled over forearm and clothes has no risk for HIV, except the part of forearm with an inflamed or pricked site which has negligible risk for HIV transmission if it is a positive blood.
Dr S Murugan