Expert: John Thai, M.D. - 10/9/2007

Question

Well recently a drug user walked to me and asked me a coin after some minutes of begging I gave it to him , while i was taking the coin from my wallet he forced is hand into my wallet and did a small cut on my hand with his nails (that were kinda big).

He didn't seem to have any cuts on his fingers but he did a small cut on my finger with his nail that bleed for a few seconds. Is there any chances that i'm infected or just some slim chance or really not even possible?

Just worried cause he was a junkie and many of the junkies are HIV positive since they share needles to drug themselfs. Once again I repeat I didn't saw any cuts on his hands, tho he did a small cut on my hand that bleed for some time.

Thanks for the help, answer as soons as possible please i want to sleep today :\


(sorry for the not so correct english but i'm not from a english country)

Answer
Due to the nature of the problem, I cannot tell you whether your exposure is high or not. No one will specifically know the HIV status of any individual without asking them. Thus, assuming that a drug user or anyone is HIV is very premature.

If you are anxious, I recommend either going to the ER for a full evaluation or contact your doctor for a HIV test.

Regards,

John Thai, MD