[Question #8977] Blood Exposure Risk

37 months ago

Hello Doctors,

It’s been a while I have posted question on this forum, I was doing really well for last few months, but now need clarity and confirmation on incidence that recently occurred.

Last week I was in UK traveling on business, while sitting in a conference room I noticed dried blood on my hand (1-2 drops). I immediately checked if it was mine or if I got cut and can confirm it was NOT my blood and I had no cuts on my hand. So here are my questions.

1. What is risk for HIV with blood on hand? I did not have any active cuts on that hand so skin was intact on hand.

2. I may have touched or scratched a bleeding pimple on my head with that hand. If I did is there any HIV risk?

3. I also got diagnosed with Covid yesterday, positive antigen TEST, its 3.5 weeks after this incidence of blood on hand. Do you know if HIV acute infection causes false-positive COVID test? I read that in rare cases covid infection may cause a positive HIV test, my question is other way round. I am worrying if the symptoms I have are due to ARS. I did the test with 3 different Covid Antigen Test Manufactures and all were positive. Also to note my wife also tested positive for Covid, so covid is in our house for sure.

5. Do I need HIV testing based on this event and can I continue to have unprotected sex with my wife?

I have learned a lot just reading on this forum and have to say the information you have here is invaluable and very reliable.

Please let me know your responses to my questions.

Thank you

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

37 months ago

Welcome back, but sorry you found it necessary.

You apparently continue to have aberrant perceptions of HIV risk. In the earliest days of the recognized HIV/AIDS epidemic in the US, people feared transmission by non-intimate contact. Within months, studies had proved it doesn't happen: NOBODY WHO HAD NOT HAD HIGH RISK SEX OR SHARED INJECTION EQUIPMENT EVER TURNED OUT TO BE INFECTED. That basic fact remains true. If you do not have sex with an infected person and do not have HIV infected blood injected directly into you, you will never get HIV. There is almost never a need to ask about any other possible exposure.

Admittedly, public health messages sometimes undermine this message. For example, they may list "blood contact" as a risk, without eplaining it in more detail. But the sort of event you describe is risk free. Nobody gets HIV from contact of HIV infected blood on their skin. Assuming the substance was blood and not yours, it is statistically unlikely it came from an HIV infected person. But if it did, it did not put you at risk.

Those comments pretty well cover your specific questions, but to assure no misunderstanding:

1. What is risk for HIV with blood on hand? I did not have any active cuts on that hand so skin was intact on hand. Zero risk. Medical personnel not infrequently have blood contact on their skin. They do not get HIV as a result.

2. I may have touched or scratched a bleeding pimple on my head with that hand. If I did is there any HIV risk? "May have" means it probably didn't happen. If it did, no risk at all.

3. I also got diagnosed with Covid yesterday,... Sorry to hear it, hope you do well. But this is irrelevant to your HIV risk from the blood event. There is no reason to suppose any symptoms of your covid actually are due to HIV. No way.

4. I am prescribed Paxlovid Pfizer Tablets. I do know the tablet has 1 HIV medication in it, so if I need testing do I need to wait 6 weeks after my last dose of Paxlovid just like if someone is on PEP? There is no way you should get tested for HIV on account of this event, and you should not seek or take PEP on account of it. I would report any physician who agreed to prescribe PEP in this situation to the appropriate licensing authorities. That said, interesting question. I don't know if Paxlovid might slightly delay HIV test positivity. Probably not, but I can't say for sure.

5. Do I need HIV testing based on this event No and can I continue to have unprotected sex with my wife? Yes, of course.

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

HHH, MD

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37 months ago

Dear Dr HH

Thank you, the only thing that really freaked me out was touching bleeding pimple. So just to double check based on your response if I did touch the bleeding pimple than it's still No Risk, from what I have read on this forum its no risk because its surface contamination and nothing was injected correct?

Back to happy life and not getting sucked into unnecessary testing per your recommendation.

Thank you again.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

37 months ago

Oh come on. Get real. You would have to assume 1) the blood was from an HIV infected person, 2) even though it had dried, HIV had survived, 3) you touched the blood with a fingernail and a substantial amount of it stayed there, 4) you then used that fingernail to contact a pimple, 5) you opened the pimple and rubbed the fingernail into the wound. Of course no risk!

That concludes this thread. I hope the discussion has helped you move on without worry.

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