[Question #12210] Can HIV survive a wash cycle

9 months ago

Hi,

Pretty sure I know what the answer will be but I’ll ask anyways.

I had a low risk HIV exposure (oral) back in June 2023 and tested negative after the window period.

I have all my clothes right next to the all in one washer dryer. So there’s a chance that those clothes touched any of my dirty clothes now.

I know that high heat drying kills off most anything. But I have one of those energy efficient all-in-one washer dryers. Even if you throw only 4-5 items in there, they are still slightly damp after drying. So probably no high heat option.

1) It would definitely be dead by now right?

2) would HIV survive a wash cycle? I don’t think it would a dry cycle - but my machine doesn’t dry all the way.

Thanks.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

9 months ago

Welcome back. However, this is another of several questions over the years reflecting your irrational worries about HIV from non-intimate exposures. To answer the title of your question, the answer is no. HIV cannot survive a wash cycle.

And the question is irrelevant. There is never any risk by exposure to clothing, whether it has been contaminated with an HIV infected body fluid or not. Nobody ever got HIV in that way. It also doesn't matter if air, or heat, or anything else destroys HIV. Whether they do or not, there is no risk of infection. So the answer to your two numbered questions is 1) Yes but it doesn't matter. 2) No but it doesn't matter.

Repeated anxiety driven questions are not permitted and after several, they are deleted without reply and without refund of the posting fee. In adults, HIV is transmitted by sex or by blood exposure almost always in the form of shared drug needles. There must be no more questions from you about exposures other than these. Thank you for your understanding.

HHH, MD

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9 months ago

I apologize. I hate that this type of thing caused my anxiety. I’m working on it.

This will be the last question- but I do get a reply I believe. I saw this quote in a time magazine article and it freaked me out a bit. Could you please explain how HIV is different from other viruses as far as transmission. I know the methods of transmission but the science behind it. Thanks.

““We’ve found that one germy item in the washer will spread to 90% of the other items,” Reynolds says. And no, it doesn’t matter how hot you set the water temperature on your machine. “When it comes to molds that cause skin or respiratory infections, or organisms that cause colds, flu and stomach flu, most of them will survive the wash cycle,” she says.”

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

9 months ago

You don't say the source of the quote, other than Time -- obviously not a scientific publication. Nor who "Reynolds" is and his or her expertise. I have to doubt the extent to which the viruses mentioned in fact survive wash cycles, and I am anazed and skeptical of what the article apparently says: I am unaware of any virus that can survive detergent or soap. And survival alone isn't sufficient: most HIV would be dead as soon as blood or body fluid in the laundry dries, before being washed; and even without detergent, the virus would then be diluted in gallons of water. On top of all that, HIV is a very fragile virus -- much more easily disrupted (and rendered non-infectious) than molds and perhaps the other viruses mentioned in the quote. If this were a real risk for HIV, then where are all the cases of HIV in people without traditional risk factors? Or who believe they caught it by exposure to washed clothing? Every scientific report on this for nearly 40 years has found that the roughly 5% of HIV cases with no known exposure, could eventually be explained by sexual or direct blood exposure when examined in more detail.

This whole business strikes me as arrant nonsense.---
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

8 months ago

"This will be the last question...." You intended that statement in reference to your follow-up comment in this thread. But we're also going to hold it to you for any future questions about HIV risks from events that everybody knows are zero risk. Repeated anxiety driven questions are not permitted and are deleted without reply and without refund of the posting fee. We're not keen on collecting fees for questions with obvious answers; repeated replies often prolong anxiety rather than relieving it (there's so often a "yes but" or "could I be the exception" sort of thinking); and such questions have reduced education value for other users, one of the forum's goals. Thank you for your understanding.

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