Risk Analysis

[theironduke]

Hi,

I'd like to know if I was at any risk from this event - this may come up across as a tad sensationalist but I would certainly appreciate some impartial advice .

I walked into the men's toilets at a pub in London yesterday. In some pubs here in the UK we have bathroom attendants [almost exclusively from Africa] who try to give you cologne, mints etc for tips. Anyhow as I walked in the attendant was unraveling something and while doing this motion I'm fairly certain that some kind of fluid was transferred off him and hit my eye. We were the only two people in the bathroom. My eye immediately began to become irritated, became quite pink and bloodshot.

Now unfortunately I'm not sure what hit my eye - it certainly was not water. Having thought about it I've become slightly frightened that it may have been blood, through the lack other possibilities. I left the bathroom rather quickly so I can not be certain he wasn't bleeding from, say, his hands.

Would blood contact with the eye cause such an irritation?

Could blood, given its colour, have caused the pinkness/redness I experienced and noticed in my eye?

Do you think I was at risk of HIV infection?

I did not rub it or touch it after this event, although I put in eye drops about 20 minutes after. I should point out that it has been one day since this event and my eye has no hurt since.

Thank you in advance. I know I may have over-thought this, but I am still nervous about this incident.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No it is not.  The irritation is, if anythng a good thing since it would be associated with lots of tears and blinking, both of which are cleansing in nature.  EWH

[theironduke]

Thank you for your reply Doctor.

I think that what I was most thrown off by was the irritation/redness, but I take it this isn't indicative of anything serious? Could blood dilute the colour of the eye?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum. We get many questions about the possibility of becoming infected through introduction of infected material into the eye.  Typically, persons cannot be sure what got into the eye or if the person from whom it came was infected.  The odds that the person who initiated the trauma to your eye yesterday had HIV are low.  Even if he was however, there are no instances in which someone has gotten HIV through eye contamination. The eye has a remarkable system of defenses against foreign bodies and foreign substances including blinking (the fastest reflex in the body), tears, etc.  

I urge you not to worry further about this event It did not put you at risk and there is no need for testing.  EWH