Just a Few Questions, Reduce Paranoia Posted: 01-19-06 06:49am
Hello,
i recently had a serology hiv test at the
beginning of this month to rid my fears
after worrying a littele every now and
then about hiv for about 2 & a half
years since an incident in 2003, which was
a bit stupid in the first place.
I'm just beginning to pick up my life
again now, and feeling a little more
confident; however, sometimes I still feel
paranoid about a few minor things. I'm
not worried so much, but hopefully these
things will help my knowledge for the
future.
Questions:
1. The hiv test I had involved 2 large
samples of blood, as the test involved
testing for hepatitis a & b too.
Would the hiv test have been likely to be
performed twice?
Just that it would help further cement the
facts in my mind. Also, I read about
the elisa test- is it 100% accurate?
I'm fairly certain it is.
2. I've just been given a negative
result, but some things have made me
paranoid still. How long does hiv last
outside the body, even in wet locations or
if it is wet? My reason for asking is
that there was a wet piece of tissue on
the road from a rain shower earlier that
morning on the road,(i dont know if any
fluids whatsoever were on it or had been
on it) and I had an already healing
(clotted?) small wound on the bottom of my
foot, that may have come into contact with
it.
Would the hiv have been killed by exposure
to air by then or washed away with the
rain? Or could hiv (even if it was
present, which i'm pretty sure it wasn't)
be able to be transmitted through an
already clotted wound?
Sorry that this may sound very stupid, as
I do know a fair bit about the disease
now, and it dosent falll under the common
category of "oops, I had unprotected sex."
am I being very stupid again? I don't
want to fall into a possible state of
deeper paranoia than I originally was
prior to this hiv test.
Any answers would be appreciated.
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Finess150
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Apr 2005 Posts: 191 Location: Kent, UK
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
No No No Posted: 01-19-06 13:11pm
You do not have hiv.
1. There is no way on earth you could
have caught the virus in the episode you
describe. Its not a viable route of
transmission at all. The virus dies
outside the body within minutes, if
that.
2. Two negative tests could not be more
certain.
Relax, and check the facts about how hiv
is spread. It is a very fragile virus.
|
bit Paranoid AboutDisease
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Posts: 2
Answers Posted: 01-20-06 21:00pm
Thanks, but some things I still do not
understand fully.
I cannot seem to get a definite answer on
how long hiv can survive outside the body,
and not just if it has dried, what about
if it is re-wet by something like rain
while it is drying, or would water wash it
away also?
And 2. How long after you cut yourself or
have a broken piece of skin does the body
effectively 'close' and could hiv be still
transmitted through scabs and really
freshly 'closed' wounds, large or small?
Any answers?
|
Finess150
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Apr 2005 Posts: 191 Location: Kent, UK
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Hiv Posted: 01-20-06 23:20pm
It is recognised that hiv does not survive
long outside the body. We are talking
about minutes. And, most importantly to
your question, it cannot be revived by
water. It dies outside the body, and
that's all there is to it. It is so
fragile that it even dies inside the
body.
There is no way that hiv could be
transmitted in the way you describe. It
simply does not work like that - jumping
from tissue to skin to blood stream. That
scenario defies sense entirely. Please
visit 'aidsmeds.Com' forum, and there are
experts who should set your mind at ease
about just how difficult it really is to
contract hiv.
Plus, think of it like this - if hiv could
be contracted in the circumstances you
describe: a wet tissue, on your foot, then
the human race would simply die out.
I'm afraid you have an obsessive fear of
hiv that is both irrational and
ill-educated. Please do some research
from reliable sources. I recommend
thebody.Com, and the terence higgins trust
website.
