[Question #13983] Am I at risk/Should I be worried (Dr Hook?)

1 months ago

Hello, I’m hoping to get a little reassurance.

I work construction, yesterday after work I was driving my coworker home and he was in passenger seat he had a small cut on his hand he was waving his hands around fast to music and he flung blood drop to my mouth and I tasted it. I had a bleeding blister in my mouth the day before which is still open and sore also have bleeding gums. I did not taste any blood until he was waving his hands around. I took a drink of pop a few seconds after I tasted it. Now I’m feeling depressed and worried that I may have gotten hiv and or hepatitis b/c from this.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

1 months ago

Welcome; thanks for your confidence in our services. Users do not have the option of choosing the expert who responds to their question. Dr. Hook's and my expertise and experience are identical, despite differences in our writing styles. You can be sure his response to this question would not be significantly different than mine.

Nobody has ever been known to acquire HIV from the sort of situation you describe and any risk of hepatitis B or C virus (HBV, HCV) infection is almost as low. Even if you have reason to believe your coworker is at risk or infected, it is very unlikely you would have been infected from such a minor exposure. And unless his "small cut" had just happened and was dripping blood onto his clothes or your car seat, I have trouble believing blood could sail through the air to your mouth. I would not advise testing for anything. And by the way, if you have been immunized against hepatitis B, there of course is no risk for it.

You also don't say the symptoms you have aside from "not feeling well" and "depressed." But none of these infections can cause symptoms of any kind sooner than a couple of weeks after catching them.

Did you ask your coworker about his possible risks or infection status? Most likely his reply would be reassuring. And of course you are free to be tested despite absence of risk; reassurance alone can be a valid reason for testing in a few weeks. But really, you shouldn't be worried. If somehow I were in your situation, I definitely would not seek testing and would continue unprotected sex with my wife with no worries about infecting her.

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

HHH, MD

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1 months ago

Thank you for the reply. The cut happened maybe 5 minutes before this happened, so I assume it would have been exposed to air even if it was pooling on his cut?. The blood was not dripping excessively that I could see and he didn’t seem to notice it. I did not ask him about his status, but know he’s 29, never been to a doctor and has had multiple sexual partners and does multiple drugs (not sure which ones). He did say he was in a navy boot camp and got a lot of shots, so I’m assuming he was vaccinated for hepatitis B. I’m not vaccinated. I don’t have unprotected sex with anyone other than my wife and I do not use injunction drugs. I am very cautious, so this encounter scared me quite a bit. Have you ever heard or seen anything like this causing infection? I don’t have any symptoms, I just felt a bit depressed thinking that I may have been infected from something so stupid like this. At most it would have been a drop of blood that entered my mouth.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

1 months ago

Thanks for the additional information. It doesn't change my evaluation or advice.

To answer your direct question about seeing such a case: Not only have I never seen a case of HIV from an exposure like yours, no such case has ever been reported by medical science, public health, etc. In addition, perhaps you'd like to know that in the 22 years of this and our preceding forum at MedHelp (starting April 2004), with thousands of forum users worried about HIV after a possible exposure, none has yet reported they eventually tested positive. You won't be the first! I'm very confident that if and when it finally happens, it will be from a genuine risk (like unprotected sex with a known infected partner, for example) and not a minor or trivial event like yours. Please do your best to stop worrying about this!

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1 months ago

Thank you for the reassurance—it’s been very helpful.

To close the loop, I understand there is no need for HIV or hepatitis B/C testing or worry needed from this exposure.

I also had a separate minor concern involving a wood splinter from a 2x4 at work, where my coworker and I were both poked by the same piece of wood 5ish minutes apart. If you would briefly comment on whether that has any relevance from a blood-borne disease standpoint, I would appreciate it.

Thank you again for your time.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

1 months ago

A splinter situation also is zero risk for HIV. I already said there is no need for testing or worry -- I haven't changed my mind in the past hour!

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. If you remain concerned, I suggest you go back and CAREFULLY re-read all my comments above. Best wishes and stay safe.

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