I was having difficulty putting on my daughter’s ballet shoes and this other parent grabbed the shoe and my daughter’s foot and tried to put the shoe on her. I told the mom I was fine and took the shoe back. When I took her shoes off after class, I noticed a streak of blood on the outside of the shoe and one on the inside. I checked my daughter’s feet and she wasn’t bleeding. Then I remembered the mom who grabbed her foot and shoe. The woman had been scratching at bug bites on her legs the whole class. I remember noticing she scratched so much they bled. Our pediatrician isn’t open until the morning for questions.

Welcome to our Forum.  Thanks for your questions.  I'll be glad to comment.  The events you describe did not put you or your daughter at risk for HIV, hepatitis or any other blood infection.  The likelihood that the source of the blood had any of these infections is low.  More importantly, these infections are not spread through indirect contact of the sort you describe.  The viruses were talking about virtually immediately become infectious on exposure to the environment.  That you may have cracked skin or abraisions in no way changes this assessment.  I see no reason for concern and no need for testing of any sort.---

Thanks Dr. Hook. To clarify your response, did you mean non-infectious when exposed to the environment?

My sincere apologies for the typo- it's been a long day.  Yes, I meant to say that these viruses become NON-infectious among exposure to the environment.  EWH---