Aa
Unusual possible exposure
I must apologise in advance for this panicked ranting, but sometimes a seed of worry latches in my mind and refuses to budge until I bug someone else with my problems.
I am 18, and an actor at the Edinburgh fringe festival. I have never had oral or insertitive sex. However, I was walking the busy Edinburgh streets one day, and when I returned home later that day, I noticed a small crescent-shaped cut on my wrist, and deduced it must have been from a fingernail accidentally jabbing into my arm while walking the crowded streets.
Now, this is when my wild imagination gets out of hand. I cannot get it out of my head that this anonymous person may have been HIV positive and may have gotten a small papercut on their fingertips, perhaps from one of the many flyers for shows that are handed out over the course of a casual walk.
So I beg of thee, wise denizens of the MedHelp community, assuming this person was HIV positive AND had a small cut on the fingertip, what is the possibility of them transferring HIV across to me by accidentally jabbing their fingernail into me (hard enough to draw blood)?
I earnestly await a response.
I am 18, and an actor at the Edinburgh fringe festival. I have never had oral or insertitive sex. However, I was walking the busy Edinburgh streets one day, and when I returned home later that day, I noticed a small crescent-shaped cut on my wrist, and deduced it must have been from a fingernail accidentally jabbing into my arm while walking the crowded streets.
Now, this is when my wild imagination gets out of hand. I cannot get it out of my head that this anonymous person may have been HIV positive and may have gotten a small papercut on their fingertips, perhaps from one of the many flyers for shows that are handed out over the course of a casual walk.
So I beg of thee, wise denizens of the MedHelp community, assuming this person was HIV positive AND had a small cut on the fingertip, what is the possibility of them transferring HIV across to me by accidentally jabbing their fingernail into me (hard enough to draw blood)?
I earnestly await a response.
Alright. So a tiny garden variety paper cut or something of the like, leaking only a drop of blood at the most, wouldn't be much of an issue in this situation?
This will be my last question, as I am sure you are sick by now of my anxious rantings.
This will be my last question, as I am sure you are sick by now of my anxious rantings.
Alright, so unless an open wound comes into contact with a sizable puddle of fresh blood, the risk is negligible, am I correct?
Thank you for all your help and reassurance on this issue. It's extremely helpful, and it makes me realise how uneducated I was on this topic. :)
Thank you for all your help and reassurance on this issue. It's extremely helpful, and it makes me realise how uneducated I was on this topic. :)
Thank you for your prompt response. I will not launch into a torrent of "what if's," as you call them, however I would appreciate it if you could further describe why I was not at risk, assuming my fingernail assailant was HIV positive and had a cut of some sort?
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