Expert: Kristen Brannock, MPH - 5/31/2006

Question
thanks for answering my previous question..but i liek to ask one more question.

How long virus can stay or alive in the trimmer..
and when i should test for HIV...

Question -
today, i went to barber shop for my hair cut...by mistake barber cut my skin with trimmer( i had few drops of bleeding).what are the chances of getting HIV or STD.

Answer -
It is possible, although extremely unlikely, that HIV can be transmitted via utensils. For transmission to occur, the same trimmer would have to have cut an HIV+ person and there blood would have had to entered your body via your cuts-all which is very unlikely.

Answer
Scientists have not reached conclusive answers on this. A conservative answer is that HIV is active until the transmitting fluid it is contained in completely dries. In reality though, environmental transmission of HIV is so unlikely and extremely rare. I have never heard of a case via hair trimmers. I dont think there is a need for you to get tested based on this one incident. However, if you want to, you should wait at least a month and then test. Ask the person testing you to explain to you the type of test being performed and anything else that is pertinent to your testing.