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HIV Infection - Very unusual situation
Hi Doctors,
As far as I can imagine I think I had a pretty unusual situation that happened to my family a week ago on Sunday. While taking a walk in a park, my 5 year old son picked up a beer can from lawn (as kids obviously have to touch everything...). He wanted to throw it away to trashcan, however before he manage to do so - a white liqued spilled out from the can all over his pents. At first I was sure these were some beer leftovers, however once we started to clean his pents with my wife, it turned out it was much more thick & and at this point we smelled it - as you probably guessed it by now it was most likely semen. We threw out can to trashcan and headed directly to nearby bathroom, where we cleaned our hands & changed our sons pents (we had 2nd one in car). We also had some antibacterial gel, which we used. However after some hours passed, I realised I had some minor skin peeled off my finger. It wasn't an open, bleeding wound, however it was irritated/red/soft (reacted in slight iching pain when later on sprayed with alcohol) - not sure how to describe it well. My wife also had a cut on her hand - much bigger (1cm), however 2 days old fully closed. My son didn't have any open wound/skin irritations.
Now... taking into consideration worst possible scenario, in which it was in fact fresh semen, and it was hiv infected and it got in touch with all described above areas - is there a chance we could have been infected? I did fair amount of research within past days and in theory as far as I can see I shouldn't worry, however I can't find a definite answer. Is it possible we could have get infected, just like one can when infected semen gets in direct contact with mucous membranes of the vagina or rectum. My fear starts to grow, and I am slowly getting into a paranoia mode. Please help :)
Bests,
Matt
As far as I can imagine I think I had a pretty unusual situation that happened to my family a week ago on Sunday. While taking a walk in a park, my 5 year old son picked up a beer can from lawn (as kids obviously have to touch everything...). He wanted to throw it away to trashcan, however before he manage to do so - a white liqued spilled out from the can all over his pents. At first I was sure these were some beer leftovers, however once we started to clean his pents with my wife, it turned out it was much more thick & and at this point we smelled it - as you probably guessed it by now it was most likely semen. We threw out can to trashcan and headed directly to nearby bathroom, where we cleaned our hands & changed our sons pents (we had 2nd one in car). We also had some antibacterial gel, which we used. However after some hours passed, I realised I had some minor skin peeled off my finger. It wasn't an open, bleeding wound, however it was irritated/red/soft (reacted in slight iching pain when later on sprayed with alcohol) - not sure how to describe it well. My wife also had a cut on her hand - much bigger (1cm), however 2 days old fully closed. My son didn't have any open wound/skin irritations.
Now... taking into consideration worst possible scenario, in which it was in fact fresh semen, and it was hiv infected and it got in touch with all described above areas - is there a chance we could have been infected? I did fair amount of research within past days and in theory as far as I can see I shouldn't worry, however I can't find a definite answer. Is it possible we could have get infected, just like one can when infected semen gets in direct contact with mucous membranes of the vagina or rectum. My fear starts to grow, and I am slowly getting into a paranoia mode. Please help :)
Bests,
Matt
Again - huge thanks! I promise to fully stop worrying now.
All the bests!
All the bests!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
You still should not worry. By the same token, hand-genital contact (i.e. masturbating a partner) has never led to HIV infection.
Hi Doctor,
I know you're probably super tired of semi paranoid guys like me coming back at you with more questions... But just to get my mind straight - the liquid I mentioned above had a pretty strong smell of semen, I am not sure what else could smell similar (of course i googled it, but i didn't find aynyting that made sense... So in theory - if it was semen, and assuming worst case scenario - a fresh one - I really shouldn't worry, right? I guess i just need to hear it again from you - and than I promise - I close this subject for good. Thanks Again!
I know you're probably super tired of semi paranoid guys like me coming back at you with more questions... But just to get my mind straight - the liquid I mentioned above had a pretty strong smell of semen, I am not sure what else could smell similar (of course i googled it, but i didn't find aynyting that made sense... So in theory - if it was semen, and assuming worst case scenario - a fresh one - I really shouldn't worry, right? I guess i just need to hear it again from you - and than I promise - I close this subject for good. Thanks Again!
Thank you Doctor! It's a huge relief to hear this from professional. I now do my best to stop this nonsense and continue with my life :) Huge thanks!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.
I really wouldn't worry at all about this. It is understandable for people to worry about HIV risks through the environment, like when they come into contact with blood, semen, or other body fluids. However, in the 30+ years of the known HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, not a single infection has been acquired in this fashion. Even being stuck by used drug injection needles (e.g., stepping on a syringe in a park) has not resulted in any infections. Also, among medical personnel, getting semen or blood on the skin has never resulted in HIV transmission. In the medical setting, HIV transmission has only occurred from direct injury by a sharp instrument while it was being used on infected patients. And even this usually doesn't result in transmission.
Further, I don't accept your premises that the fluid was semen and that it was from an HIV infected person; both of these seem very unlikely. But even if we accept those unlikely possibilities, the nature of the contact with the material simply wasn't risky. And your other premise also is untrue: there is little or no risk "when infected semen gets in direct contact with mucous membranes of the vagina or rectum". Without direct injection of semen inside the vagina or rectum, there is little or no risk of sexual transmission.
For all those reasons, I agree with your own rational ("left brain") analysis: "in theory as far as I can see I shouldn't worry". Exactly right!
So my advice is to not worry about this at all. There is no need for testing or for any precautions between you, your wife, your child, or anyone else.
I hope this has been helpful. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
I really wouldn't worry at all about this. It is understandable for people to worry about HIV risks through the environment, like when they come into contact with blood, semen, or other body fluids. However, in the 30+ years of the known HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, not a single infection has been acquired in this fashion. Even being stuck by used drug injection needles (e.g., stepping on a syringe in a park) has not resulted in any infections. Also, among medical personnel, getting semen or blood on the skin has never resulted in HIV transmission. In the medical setting, HIV transmission has only occurred from direct injury by a sharp instrument while it was being used on infected patients. And even this usually doesn't result in transmission.
Further, I don't accept your premises that the fluid was semen and that it was from an HIV infected person; both of these seem very unlikely. But even if we accept those unlikely possibilities, the nature of the contact with the material simply wasn't risky. And your other premise also is untrue: there is little or no risk "when infected semen gets in direct contact with mucous membranes of the vagina or rectum". Without direct injection of semen inside the vagina or rectum, there is little or no risk of sexual transmission.
For all those reasons, I agree with your own rational ("left brain") analysis: "in theory as far as I can see I shouldn't worry". Exactly right!
So my advice is to not worry about this at all. There is no need for testing or for any precautions between you, your wife, your child, or anyone else.
I hope this has been helpful. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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