[Question #13780] HIV infections thru contaminated icy water

19 days ago

I went to the fish market to buy fish. I have a minor cut on my hand one day before. I dipped my hand into the pail with icy water containing fishes to pick up fishes. If the water was previously contaminated with blood from HIV patient, would I be infected?

what would be my risk of being infected?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

19 days ago

Welcome to the forum. I'm happy to help.

HIV is not transmitted by contact with contaminated fluids or surfaces. And even with more serious exposures, healing cuts are not highly susceptible to HIV even if exposed to the virus. Anyway, the chance the fight water somehow contained HIV, you would not have been infected. You could swallow a gallon of contaminated water and still would probably not catch HIV. Nobody in the world has ever caught HIV from any events like this one. Please don't worry -- all is well.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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19 days ago

Why the contaminated ice water even with hiv blood, it would not infect to other people even with 1 day old hand cuts?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

19 days ago

First, the virus likely would not survive in water. Second, even if it did, infection requires LOTS of virus to have contact with certain kinds of cells that typically are deep inside the body. HIV is hard to transmit! Even when a woman has unprotected vaginal sex with an infected partner, with billions of HIV deposited inside her vagina, her risk of catching it is around one chance in a thousand. The trivial kind of exposure from contaminated water has no chance of causing infection.---

19 days ago

So this is zero risk event.? Can i forget this

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

18 days ago

Repeating the question in different words. That's exactly what I said above.

That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful. Best wishes and stay safe.

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