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lab sciences/HIV

Dear Dr. HHH,
I apologize and please excuse the fact that this isn't a question that involves sexual transmission. I feel as if you are the best person to ask in my situation.I am a grad student working in a research lab and work with P. falciparum so I work with human blood.The blood we use is supposed to be screened and free of virus, but I understand there is a "window period" associated with HIV and whether or not the person donating could actually be positive upon donation and not know it yet.I am concerned because 2 weeks ago, I made a blood smear on a glass slide to check % parasitemia of my culture.  This involves making a smear with a few microliters of blood and letting it air dry for a minute or two, then fixing the slide in 100% methanol for a couple minutes before staining with Giemsa stain.  I then kept the same gloves on and proceeded with my work. I needed to use a glass pipette for the rest of my experiment. I then broke a sterile unused glass pipette in my hand and later found a few holes in the glove.  I don't remember hitting the area where the holes were and did not see any visible cuts or abrasions under the glove on my finger but I don't know for sure. The gloves I had on, were the same I used in staining and had methanol on them that touched and was possibly contaminated with the freshly dried blood from the smear on the slide.
1) Is it possible I could have gotten HIV with the clean broken glass because of the unchanged/possibly dirty gloves that touched the methanol/blood slide?
2)Does 100% methanol inactivate HIV and is a couple minutes long enough to inactivate HIV?
3)The blood that I used was approx. 2 weeks old and had sat at room temp for a few days after being refrigerated for a couple.  How long would HIV last in a centrifuge tube of blood once outside the body (25ml)?  
4)Does HIV become inactivated if dried on a slide after a couple minutes?
Thank you so much for your time and help in this matter.
2 Responses
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239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
This is something for you to discuss with your lab supervisor.  Most likely s/he and/or others involved in the research have taken the window period into consideration in the use blood products in your laboratory, either by assuring that the donors had no high-risk activities for several weeks before donation; or, more likely, by testing the blood for HIV DNA by PCR, as is done routinely for all blood donations in industrialized countries.  In all states in the US, and probably in all industrialzed countries, I imagine that workplace safety policies and laws demand that the risk of getting HIV in your situation is zero.

To the direct questions:

1) I doubt it.
2) Yes.
3) HIV probably survives at least 2 weeks, if the blood doesn't dry.
4) Drying immediately inactivates HIV.

I see no cause for concern here.  But as I suggested, discuss and continuing uncertainties with your lab director and/or supervisor.

Best wishes--  HHH, MD
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
Thank you so much for your quick response.  You gave me great peace of mind!  
Helpful - 0

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