Expert: Terry B - 12/25/2008

Question
Hi,

First I just want to thank this forum and the people here.

A few days back I went to visit a person who is HIV+. Now an incident happened which is worrying me a lot.

I had to use his bike a couple of times and for that I also borrowed his helmet. Now everytime I took the helmet off my head something scraped against my right ear, it hurt, and there was a burning sensation. This happened a couple of times.

I examined the helmet and saw that the fabric inside the hemet had become very stiff and was broken in places. Several edges from the stiff cushioing were projecting out. When I noticed my ear there were two cuts. It was not like blood was dripping out of them, but definitely the skin was broken and they hurt.

I am really worrying about this incident. The fabric inside the helmet was something similar to the material of which seats coverings are made(not leather, something similar) With use it becomes stiff and cracks and starts to come off. Pieces start projecting from it and can hurt you if you scrape against it.

Now anybody who used that helmet would have been hurt while taking off the helmet. 2-3 times I used the helmet just after he had used it. There was however a 5-10 minute gap between his taking off the helmet and mine using it. Can this be a means of transmission. Should I worry about the cuts on my ear and get tested?


Thanks a lot.

Answer
Dear G:

Peace and all good things.  As you stated there was no 'active bleeding' there seems no chance of there being significant amount of blood, semen, or vaginal secretions on the helmet which would match up precisely to your reported abrasions.  I don't see this as risk, and don't see testing as warranted.

Best to you and yours,

Terry