Is Disease Transmission Through a Paper Cut Likely? Posted: 02-12-07 17:46pm
I have a quick question about the
possibility for hiv/aids transmission that
I haven't been able to get off of my mind.
A few days ago while my school was
hosting its annual debate/forensics
tournament I was handing out awards and
shaking the hands of the individuals who
had placed in the top rankings. After
having finished the awards I looked down
at my hand and I had blood on it. Even
more disturbing, the blood was directly on
the part of my hand which had sustained a
paper cut about 2-3 hours earlier. I have
no idea whose blood it was that got onto
my hand but now i'm worrying myself sick
over the possibility of having contracted
some kind of blood-bourne illness, such as
hiv/aids. My question then is this; what
are the chances that I could have
contracted some kind of disease? The
paper cut wasn't very deep and bled
minimally when it was sustained. What
should my course of action be? I'm
extremely confused and I am fairly
worried. Any help would be well
appreciated. Thank you.
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Llewellyn
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1743 Location: NY
Posted: 02-12-07 18:06pm
There is a possibility of transmission
anytime that you come into contact with
blood, semen, vaginal discharge, or breast
milk.
Your chances of having hiv/aids from the
situation you described is not all that
likely, but it is still possible.
You can always take a test so that you can
stop wondering and finally know.
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Explosionsinthesky
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 2
Posted: 02-12-07 20:39pm
It happened only a few days ago, is it
wise to go get tested now?
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Llewellyn
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 1743 Location: NY
Posted: 02-13-07 01:48am
No, hiv does not show up on tests right
away. You can talk to a doctor about how
soon he or she can test you.
"to find out when you should be tested,
discuss it with your testing site staff or
personal physician. The tests commonly
used to detect hiv infection actually look
for antibodies produced by your body to
fight hiv. Most people will develop
detectable antibodies within 3 months
after infection, the average being 20
days. In rare cases, it can take 6-12
months. During the time between exposure
and the test, it is important to avoid any
behavior that might result in exposure to
blood, semen, or vaginal secretions."
http://www.
Hivtest.Org/subindex.Cfm?Fuseaction=faq#8<
/a>
