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Risk Assessment Needed
Doctor,
This past weekend I was at a outdoor concert and stupidly walking around barefoot. I stepped on a small piece of glass that caused me to bleed for a few seconds. A lot of people at the concert were walking around barefoot as well. I am concerned because what if someone else had just stepped on the same piece of glass and cut themselves as well right before I did and they had HIV? Would HIV be transmitted this way? I read on the forum that HIV can be transmitted when the wound is caused by a sharp instrument. In this case, wouldn't glass be the sharp instrument? Thanks for all your help.
This past weekend I was at a outdoor concert and stupidly walking around barefoot. I stepped on a small piece of glass that caused me to bleed for a few seconds. A lot of people at the concert were walking around barefoot as well. I am concerned because what if someone else had just stepped on the same piece of glass and cut themselves as well right before I did and they had HIV? Would HIV be transmitted this way? I read on the forum that HIV can be transmitted when the wound is caused by a sharp instrument. In this case, wouldn't glass be the sharp instrument? Thanks for all your help.
Thanks for your help. Given your reassurance, I will move on and accept that there is no need for testing over my event. Thanks for all your help!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
No. Night sweats -- the ones that count as symptoms of HIV (and a hundred other diseases) -- occur because a high fever breaks during the night. In other words, without fever, you don't have true night sweats. In any case, hight sweats and a single possibly inflamed lymph node would never be the only symptoms of a new HIV infection.
But if you remain worried, have an HIV test. It's obvious that my judgment isn't helping you get beyond this, and you'll probably remain worried until you prove to yourself that you don't have HIV. So visit a doctor, or your local public health clinic, then follow their advice about specific tests and their timing. But do your best to mellow out in the meantime. You're not going to be the first person in world history to be infected from the sort of event you described above.
But if you remain worried, have an HIV test. It's obvious that my judgment isn't helping you get beyond this, and you'll probably remain worried until you prove to yourself that you don't have HIV. So visit a doctor, or your local public health clinic, then follow their advice about specific tests and their timing. But do your best to mellow out in the meantime. You're not going to be the first person in world history to be infected from the sort of event you described above.
Hi Doctor, It has now been a few weeks since the incident and I now have been having night sweats every night for the past week (one drenching and the others dampening the sheets/clothes). I also had a sore lymph node under one of my armpits for a few days. Does this change your assessment at all?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Nobody can guarantee there is absolutely zero risk for HIV. IF someone had cut him/herself very soon before your injury, and IF there were a "significant" amount wet blood still present, and IF that person had HIV, and so on, then maybe HIV transmission could occur. But good grief, what are the odds? My guess is they're a whole lot lower than the chance you'll be struck by a meteorite someday. My advice is that you entirely ignore the biological explanations and just accept the fact that nobody is known to have ever caught HIV in this fashion -- and move on with your life.
Thank you, Doctor. How soon does HIV become inactive once exposed to air? If someone with HIV did in fact cut their foot a minute or two before me would the virus have been able to infect or would it have already been dead?
Also, would there have had to been a significant amount of blood in order to infect? I looked at the piece of glass and I could not see anything (but obviously could have missed it).
Lastly, how deep would the wound have to be? Mine definitely cut the first layer of skin but didn't bleed very long and did not look very deep.
Thank you!
Also, would there have had to been a significant amount of blood in order to infect? I looked at the piece of glass and I could not see anything (but obviously could have missed it).
Lastly, how deep would the wound have to be? Mine definitely cut the first layer of skin but didn't bleed very long and did not look very deep.
Thank you!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
Injury by a sharp instrument in the environment is one of those exposures that in theory could be a risk, but for which there are no known cases of HIV transmission. The usual concern is over the possibility of needles previously used for drug injection, but even that has never acually happened. Glass would be even less likely (needles are theoretcially higher risk because there could be blood retained inside the needle). Anyway, the odds that someone else had cut him/herself recently, and further that such a person had HIV, are astronomically low. Finally, HIV immediately dies as the blood dries out -- so even if those unlikely events had occurred, you still would not be at significant risk.
So I wouldn't worry about this at all. You don't need HIV testing, and if you have a regular sex partner, you can continue your usual intimate practices without worry about transmitting HIV.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Injury by a sharp instrument in the environment is one of those exposures that in theory could be a risk, but for which there are no known cases of HIV transmission. The usual concern is over the possibility of needles previously used for drug injection, but even that has never acually happened. Glass would be even less likely (needles are theoretcially higher risk because there could be blood retained inside the needle). Anyway, the odds that someone else had cut him/herself recently, and further that such a person had HIV, are astronomically low. Finally, HIV immediately dies as the blood dries out -- so even if those unlikely events had occurred, you still would not be at significant risk.
So I wouldn't worry about this at all. You don't need HIV testing, and if you have a regular sex partner, you can continue your usual intimate practices without worry about transmitting HIV.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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