good morning dr hunter

i have so many questions i dont know where to begin and you i can count on today . i have family we may be suspicious that one of our maid is hiv positive we but i cant confirm at the moment if she is positive or not im in the process at the moment but its high chance she is .

i mean no disrespect but its the safety for me and my family i am  worried . hence im writing to you in private . my questions are below

1) we leave our items open in bathrooms but tooth brushes i know cannot transmit hiv plus we always use water to clean tooth brushes .

my worry the survival time of hiv blood or even secretions  in the hair oil . we all used it even my maid it wasnt a big deal . now i want to know if there was any hiv infected blood injected in the hair oil bottle can hiv blood live inside hair oil  itself ?

2)  if there was blood inside the hair oil and i used it to massage my head and hair with it . will it go into my head can i get hiv that way . what i meant to say the oil is  absorbed into the head so can hiv go into this way ?

3) is you head (scalp) a route to the blood streeam ?and can infected hiv fluids be absorbed if dont have open head wounds from the hair oil i massaged my head with it?

4) we have mouth washes also . if mouth wash was contaminated with blood can it live inside a mouth wash .

5)face wash liquid also used . if blood was present inside the facewash liquid  will hiv be active and i washed my face with it cannot go through my eyes and give me ?

my concern is HIV BLOOD or even secretions can they survive in mouth wash liquids , hair oil , lotion.   or  hiv blood cannot live outside the body

to be very blunt and maybe a bit embarrassed. what i am saying if hiv blood is injected into the mouth wash or hair oil .. or any liquid item even cream. WOULD HIV BLOOD Survive in it  and would i be at risk ?


do i need to test?

Welcome to the Forum.  As you probably know clients on this site are not permitted to request who responds to their questions.  All questions regarding herpes go to Ms. Warren and Dr. Handsfield and I split all other questions.  As it happened, today I happened to pick up your question.  As an FYI, having worked closely for more than 35 years, Dr. Handsfield and I never disagree on the content of our replies although our verbal styles vary.  I will be addressing these questions.

Fist a general comment.  You do not know that your maid has HIV and do not give a reason why you think she might. Even if she did, the idea that she might infect you through either intentionally putting blood or secretions onto things around your home or that this might happen unintentionally than then lead to you or a family member becoming infected is simply not realistic.  Why would she want to infect you if she were?  Even if she did, the sorts of events you describe would not lead to infection.  Infection is transmitted only through DIRECT penetrative sexual contact or injection of infected material deep into tissue as might occur with a needle.  Touching, kissing, contact with sweat or secretions (including blood) which are outside the body will not lead to infection as the HIV virus is quite fragile and becomes non-infectious virtually immediately after leaving the body

1.  Please do not worry about infection form a contaminated toothbrush.    while some sites cautiously state that infection could be theoretically be spread by sharing toothbrushes with an infected person, this sharing would need to be immediate to even theoretically lead to transmission of infection and I know of no instance when HIV has been transmitted in this way.

2.  Hair oil contaminated with HIV infected blood and rubbed into your scalp would not transmit HIV.  The virus would not survive in the oil and rubbing infected material on your head would not lead to infection.

3.  See above.

4.  No, mouth wash which was contaminated with blood or infectious material would not transmit HIV.  The virus would die in the mouthwash and ingestion of HIV in that way does not transmit HIV.

5.  No, contaminated face washing liquids would not transmit HIV, even if you got them in you eye.

As I said above, HIV does not live well outside the body and virtually immediately becomes non-infectious when exposed to the air. None of the situations you describe above would place you at risk for HIV in the unlikely circumstance that they were contaminated with HIV.  I urge you not to worry and see no medical reason for you to test related to any of the situations you describe above.  EWH . 

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I recommend that you sat of the internet.  it will mislead you, as is already the case.  I have explained how HIV is transmitted and your questions below are a bit redundant and hypothetical, citing unrealistic situations, therefore my answers to your questions will be brief:

1. Repetitive.  No change in my answer.  HIV is non-infectious on exposure to air.

2. Silly, repetitive question.  Exposure to blood on your scalp would not lead to infection.

3.  Repetitive question, answer is the same.  Contaminated mouthwash would not lead to infection.

4.  I am onto aware of infection occurring in this way.  A small proportion of children who receive breast feeding from infected mothers have been infected.  Certainly, no risk for infection by mouth after 6 month when the GI tract has matured. 

5.  No change in answer.  The eye has never been reported as a site of casual transmission in this way. There are many, complex reason for this.

6.  Many liquids, like mouthwash are also directly toxic to HIV.

Please realize, the purpose of this Forum is to answer questions about real, not hypothesized questions.  Repetitive, "what if" questions are not favored.  I hope these asnwers will allow you to move forward without concern.  Nothing you have suggested represents a realistic risk for HIV.  EWH   :

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Hi there doc ! Hi ! I'm here don't go 

Correction at spelling  I said" would" my scalp not "wound" my scalp 

Your questions are, once again repetitive.  Repeating questions only wastes your time.  The answers do not change.  Einstein said that one definition of insanity is to ask the same question again and again and expect different answers.  Addition, brief answers to your repetitive questions, then this thread will be closed and further new, repetitive, anxiety-driven questions will be deleted without responses and without refunding your money.---

Thanks doc I love you ! Thank you thank you