Aa
Any risk?
Dr. Hook/Dr. HHH,
Last Monday I went to a local HIV clinic, for the first time, for a routine test (I'm negative). Earlier that morning, I noticed that I had a small pocket of pus (it's a greenish fluid) on the tip of my ring finger on my left hand, this is not uncommon for me, I have gotten them periodically throughout my life. Briefy, the area at the tip of the finger around the edge of my finger nail gets soar, then inflamed and then the small pocket of green pus forms over the course of about 2-3 days. I gently pulled the skin around the side of my finger nail back slightly, which allowed to pus to drain out, and I cleaned it off (no blood, the skin is not even noticeably damaged in any way). Later that afternoon, probably 4 hours or more, I went for my test. I also have the habit of pressing my fingernails into my thumb when I'm really nervous and when I left the clinic I noticed I was doing that, and there was a very small place were a layer or two of the skin has been pulled back, it was about the size of a pin head and there was no blood. I washed my hands with soap and water, and used 2 different hand sanitizers when i got back to work about 5-10 minutes later. Is there any risk of infection from touching the door handles or chairs or anything else in this scenario? Thanks.
Last Monday I went to a local HIV clinic, for the first time, for a routine test (I'm negative). Earlier that morning, I noticed that I had a small pocket of pus (it's a greenish fluid) on the tip of my ring finger on my left hand, this is not uncommon for me, I have gotten them periodically throughout my life. Briefy, the area at the tip of the finger around the edge of my finger nail gets soar, then inflamed and then the small pocket of green pus forms over the course of about 2-3 days. I gently pulled the skin around the side of my finger nail back slightly, which allowed to pus to drain out, and I cleaned it off (no blood, the skin is not even noticeably damaged in any way). Later that afternoon, probably 4 hours or more, I went for my test. I also have the habit of pressing my fingernails into my thumb when I'm really nervous and when I left the clinic I noticed I was doing that, and there was a very small place were a layer or two of the skin has been pulled back, it was about the size of a pin head and there was no blood. I washed my hands with soap and water, and used 2 different hand sanitizers when i got back to work about 5-10 minutes later. Is there any risk of infection from touching the door handles or chairs or anything else in this scenario? Thanks.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
That many years ago, I'll bet it wasn't tested for herpes. It should be. Going on that many years, herpes (due to HSV-1) sounds like a good bet.
Thanks for the quick answer Dr! I've actually had the finger lesions since I was in elementary school/middle school. I've had a doctor test the fluid, but they only found normal skin flora, so he told me not to worry about them, and just treat them when I get them with peroxide and neosporian.
But thanks again for your response!
But thanks again for your response!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum.
The only way you could catch HIV from being in an HIV clinic would be to have unprotected sex or share injection equipment with an HIV infected person while you were there. Touching surfaces, doorknobs, etc never transmits HIV regardless of cuts or sore on the hands.
That said, your recurrent finger lesion could be something to get checked out. Most likely you have either have a recurrent bacterial infection, perhaps due to an ingrown fingernail; or you might have a recurrent herpes whitlow. The next time it happens, you should visit a health care provider promptly (within 1-2 days of starting) to be tested.
But for sure there was no possibility of catching HIV from being in the clinic. Don't worry about it.
The only way you could catch HIV from being in an HIV clinic would be to have unprotected sex or share injection equipment with an HIV infected person while you were there. Touching surfaces, doorknobs, etc never transmits HIV regardless of cuts or sore on the hands.
That said, your recurrent finger lesion could be something to get checked out. Most likely you have either have a recurrent bacterial infection, perhaps due to an ingrown fingernail; or you might have a recurrent herpes whitlow. The next time it happens, you should visit a health care provider promptly (within 1-2 days of starting) to be tested.
But for sure there was no possibility of catching HIV from being in the clinic. Don't worry about it.
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