blood in sink

[greatguy5]

I was recently washing my hands in a public restroom. When I started to wash my hands, I noticed that there was some nasal secretions or food or blood scab in the sink. It was wet and red in the sink.

I am not sure who was the last person to use the sink before me or how long ago the person left it. My hands have dry skin but I don't think I have a cut on my hand but I'm not sure.

When I was washing my hands, some water splashed the stuff in the sink and it could have splashed back "dirty" water to my hands and/or lips and face. My lips are a bit dry and it was cracked. An hour before this incident, my finger may  have hit a splinter but I didn't see the splinter. But, I never came into direct contact with the substance.

Am I at risk of HIV infecting me through this? It was 24 hours ago that it happened.

[Sharkboy67]

But at the same time Johnny_chronic's advice is somewhat misleading.

[nursegirl6572]

This thread is several years old.  Please be mindful of the dates when replying.  

[johnny_chronic]

This is frightening. It can happen to anyone who decides to use a public restroom.

You are probably OK but if unsure you could visit the hospital, there is a 24-72 hour kit you can get which can prevent HIV.

This also happened to me twice where a public sink had blood in the faucet somehow from someone's mouth.
Both instances I turned up clean, in one of them I had scabs on my hand.

[Teak]

NO. HIV is unable to reproduce outside its living host (unlike many bacteria or fungi, which may do so under suitable conditions), except under laboratory conditions; therefore, it does not spread or maintain infectiousness outside its host.