Expert: John Thai, M.D. - 4/9/2009

Question
Hi John,

I understand your point. I have rephrazed the question and have made it short.

Hi, An incident happened about 5 days ago that is worrying me. I had shaved off some hair from the back of my neck. I did not cut myself but had grazed the skin which become red like it sometimes becomes after shaving and it was feeling a little irritated. If I rubbed my fingers over the area it would hurt a little. I can say that it was not bleeding actively, i.e. when I touched it with my fingers no blood came on my fingers. However, it was grazed and had a few minor scratches (and maybe little cuts like little red lines that hurt a little).

I asked my roommate to check and see if I had got any rashes on my skin. He briefly felt the area with his fingers. I then noticed that my roommate was occasionally rubbing a wound on his arm with his fingers. It was a partially healed open wound that was not actively bleeding at that time. Partially meaning that blood was not dripping out (it was clotted) but there was no skin covering the wound and it appeared to be watery and reddish.

I am little bit concerned about this occurance. As my friend was rubbing his wound just before I asked him to examine the skin on my neck. Could this be a possible risky situation for HIV transmission? I know about the main ways in which HIV can be transmitted but it can also be transmitted from one wound to another (via blood). Although I am unsure if there would be sufficient blood/fluid in this case.

About my friend I can say is that he is of unknown HIV status. He has been quite careless with some things and I have been urging him from quite some time to get tested but he refuses to do so and continues to remain careless.

Could you please provide your opinion and advise on this as this has started to stress me a lot.

Thank your for all your help and I am anxiously waiting for your reply.

quesion

Answer
To Questioner,

This is a question of "what if." There is no way any physician can positively provide any information or advisory based on the information provided. Your worries are unwarranted as the risk is minimal to none. The only conclusive way to determine HIV status is by testing for HIV to ease your concerns.

Best Regards,

John Thai, MD