Hello
First of all, thank you so much for being there to answer our questions. I've been worried for quite some days now and can't seem to get peace of mind. I was hoping you could provide some guidance on whether I've been at risk for HIV transmission.
The other day I went to the toilet at work to change the nuvaring (it's a birth control method that you insert in your vagina once a month and then remove 3 weeks later). When I was about to leave the cubicle I noticed a very small spot of blood on the door that definitively wasn't mine (half the size of a pinkie finger nail), near the door knob. It looked rather dry but couldn't really tell if it was 100% dry (the cubicle was empty though before I walked in). I am now concerned that, because I didn't notice it going in, I may have touched it unknowingly when opening the door and then inserted my hands in my vagina to remove the nuvaring, thereby possibly exposing the mucosa in my vagina to that blood. I'm not sure I touched the little bloody patch. I didn't notice any blood in my hands at any point in time, and I still had to undress myself and wipe myself after using the toilet and before actually inserting my fingers to remove the nuvaring, so that if I had blood on my hand I should have seen it at some point on my clothes or the toilet paper, which I didn't. However, I'm still very worried.
Would you consider I'm at risk for HIV? Can HIV be transmitted this way, if you touch infected blood that was either dry or in the process of drying on a flat environmental surface and then touch your mucosa? Are there any recorded cases of HIV infection from such environmental settings? Should I test for HIV?
Please advise
Many thanks
One worried user