Hello there.
First of all I have to point out that I have read similar to this thread posts, I just have to ask some more questions!
Let's begin:
At most ( all of them I think ) of martial arts schools / dojos of my town no blood tests are required to join the class. Actually, there is also the window period so even if blood tests were mandatory, there would still be a chance for an HIV+ person to join the class. Moreover, some HIV+ people would not even care about others and join the class anyway. I'm not talking about no-contact style martial arts, where joining the class is safe and sound and nobody bleeds on the mats, but full-contact style martial arts with frequent bleeding – not heavy though -. Is my thought correct? (1) Tell me if I'm wrong.
I'm practicing Ju Jitsu ( check this video to understand better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vumFNTnIF4o ). We wear a uniform so our whole body is covered except the feet, the hands and the neck and head. Sometimes, we bleed during sparring. Most of the times, the wounds are small, mostly on the face and lips due to the rubbing and grappling during being on the ground. They're not actual cuts, more like scratches caused by rubbing, who although bleed. Other times, the wounds are located at our hands from grabbing the enemy's uniform too tight. Moreover, one can have a bleeding wound from the enemy's hand ( actually nails ) scratching his neck during sparring. You can understand that these wounds are not big or deep, but they do bleed. It is unusual for both practicioners during sparring to bleed but not impossible, it has happened a lot of times. So, to understand better, most of the times, the wounds are “burns”/scratches from the enemy’s uniform during grappling. So, the question is, how deep and big should a wound (approximately of course) ( or more thoroughly, two wounds ) be in order to acquire HIV this way? (2) I have read in other threads/forums/sites that the wound would have to be really deep and in need of medical attention and should be bleeding a lot, not just for a minute or so and in miniscule amounts, is this correct? (3) Also, when does a wound can be considered “safer”? (4) By safer I mean, “closed”. I have read ( and actually studied in a general Biology Course ) that immediately the body starts to repair the wound, the thing is, when is the wound barricaded PRIOR to the forming of the scab –if it is barricaded anyway-? (5) Is it okay when there is no bleeding? (6) Or a scab must be formed? (7) Moreover, when does HIV get inactive outside of the human body? (8) Depending on the source, it goes from a fraction of a second to several minutes,so, what is the conclusive answer,if there is one? (9) I ask that because, during grappling, you come into direct contact with the enemy for up to a minute and neither of you at that moment understands if there is a new wound/scratch. If him and you are bleeding, that is a lot of time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a retarded dojo, if a wound bleeds long and heavily enough, we stop. But if it is a little lip or cheek scratch that bleeds for 1-3 minutes and pours like 10 “tears” of blood, we continue immediately and we may grapple again ( what do you think about this?(10)), so our wounds can touch for an extensive amount of time ( actually up to a minute ). Also, I have read that HIV connects to specific cells ( to a certain type of white blood cells If I remember correctly ) and these cells are present during a wound to immunize it. Is this real, and does it increase the transmission chance? (11) I’m just confused, I searched extensively, there have been no verified transimission cases and it seems nobody at the martial arts world is really scared or worried if they take the needed precautions ( stop if there is moderate-heavy bleeding and clean the wounds, the mats etc ). I love my class and I really want to keep up or maybe add another martial art too, but this is scaring me for real whenever there is a wound during sparring. The thing is, you don’t understand that you are wounded and nobody sees it if there is no extensive bleeding. Should this type of wound considered not important?(12) Also, wounds bleed outwards, not inwards, so how there is a chance for transmission anyway, and even if there is a chance, isn’t it decreased thinking about the flow of the blood? (13)
Anyway, to end my post, I’m just really confused as there is no legitimate answer to all these and I just can’t imagine getting something like HIV by doing something to improve yourself mentally and physically, it’s ironic. I love my classes though, I don’t want to stop because of this :/
(1) – (13) are my questions, I would love it if you could answer them all!
Greetings!
focus on this facts :
HIV is unable to reproduce outside its living host, except under laboratory conditions. HIV does not survive in the open air.
Hiv can only be transmitted through :
-unprotected vaginal or/and anal penetration
-from mother to child
-by sharing drug works