[Question #9996] How long does HIV last/infect outside of the body?

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26 months ago
Hello, 

      This is a follow up question to my question about eating a sandwich where the guy cut himself while prepping my food. Im not trying to harp on anything, but Im just curious if I happened to have a small cut in my mouth/tongue would that make it a possible risk?

How long does HIV actually transmit outside of the body?

Thanks!
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
26 months ago
I'm sorry you are having trouble getting away from your unwarranted concerns about the no risk event you described.  This question is repetitive.  As I said earlier There is a difference between "alive" (definitions and "infectious".  I presume the information you are mentioning is from the internet, a source that I would urge you to ignore or, better yet, not even approach.  HIV is not infectious once exposed to the environment."   HIV become NON-INFECTOUS  virtually immediately after leaving the body.  As I also said previously, "You cannot get HIV from ingesting contaminated food...".

HIV outside of the human body, with the exception of blood which has been sheltered from the environment such as within a shared needle, does not cause infection.  The presence of cuts of scrapes inside your mouth or tongue would not change this.  EWH
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26 months ago
Thank you, just wanted to be sure. I figured with it being hot food it likely helps as well. So just to confirm testing is not necessary?
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
26 months ago
There is absolutely no need for testing related to the episode yu have described.  Please don't worry.  EWH---
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26 months ago
I just wanted to thank all of you guys for the work you do. You guys really put some of our minds to ease and I really think you provide a good resource here. I wanted to touch on one more note that helped me a lot. In my last thread you mentioned the chases of the guy making the sandwich having it was less than 1%. So a quick google search showed I have 2.8 million adults (18+) living in my state and 10,000 infected. That would be a 0.3% chance he has it. Ontop of that, I never had traditional symptoms which I read somewhere in 1 in 7 or 8 do not show symptoms (which is 12-14%). Those odds seem pretty dang low to me (knock wood) and it really helps ease my mind. 

Thanks again! 
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
26 months ago
Thanks for your thoughts and your calculation. 

The other thing that I would add in terms of reassurance, is that at the present time in North America, well over 60% of people with HIV are on effective treatment, making them non-infectious to others. Thus, when calculating the likelihood that you have been exposed to HIV, in terms of those who are infectious to others you can cut that number by more than half. Then, when you realize that more than 99.9% of exposures did not result in transmission, the likelihood of getting HIV through activities of daily living is vanishing way low. 

As always, I hope this perspective is helpful to you. This will complete this thread. Take care. EWH. 
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