Sorry to ask a rather anxiety fueled question, I just started working in research and was handling blood and I'm not 100% sure but I think some might have splashed in my eye. I was wearing glasses and a mask, but not googles, since work didn't give me any so I assumed they weren't necessary (I'm now going to ask for some). I was pipetting some blood from one vial into another. My eye started feeling a little weird and I got nervous that maybe I got some of the blood in my eye. The individuals whose blood I was handling hadn't reported HIV diagnosis in the last six months but I'm not 100% sure of their status. I started PEP just in case and my HIV baseline test was negative. Do you think with strict adherence to the PEP and not being completely sure if there was an exposure, that there is any real risk? 

Thanks so much! And sorry again for the anxiety.

Thank you so much! Given that I'm taking PEP just in case and the uncertainty about whether or not I actually got any blood in my eye, do you think I can trust a negative test at 4 weeks? My partner are going to abstain from sex because I'm worried, but at with a negative test in a month, do you think it would be okay to resume? And if so, should we use condoms until a 3 or 6 month test?

Thank you again!

1.  One of the down sides about PEP is that it delays when you can be entirely confident you have not acquired HIV.  Testing will not be conclusive until 6 weeks following completion of your PEP.

2.  On the other hand, for HIV to be transmissible, it must be detectable.  If you have a negative test at the time of sexual contact, you can be confident that it was a virtually no risk event.

Hope this helps. EWH