Expert: John Thai, M.D. - 4/12/2007

Question
Hi, There are two occurrences that i am worried about. Back on march 7
i was playing basketball in a local YMCA and when the game was over
when i was walking back to my car i noticed some blood on my arm.  When
i
got home i washed the blood off and then i looked at my jersey and saw
some blood on there as well. I started to freak out,I am pretty sure
that i didn't have any open cuts on my arm but i really cant remember.
I
worry tremendously about everything. The other was on April 3, i was
playing basketball again and at halftime i noticed i had a scratch on
the
top of my pinky and it was bleeding a little bit, i washed it off and
then put a Band-Aid on it and then returned to the game. After the game
i looked at my jersey and saw that there was a little bit of blood on
the side of my jersey.  The blood could have been from me but then i
don't know because the scratch was on the top of my pinky. so know i am
freaked out again. I worry about everything and the anxiety is killing
me. The back of my neck hurts and im tired all the time and i hope its
all due to the anxiety. I heard that air will kill the virus and so i
was
wondering if somebody who gets cut if the blood thats on the cut if
thats exposed to the air is that blood loosing its inability to infect
someone if they had HIV. Do you think that i need any testing. I have
been
in the same relationship for 3 years and i was fully tested before the
relationship and my girlfriend was a virgin before me, i have never
been outside of the relationship and neither has she and we dont use
drugs. Please let me know what you think and if i require any hiv testing. Thats mainly what i want to know if i require testing  

Answer
Hi Jeff,

Anxiety can mimic alot of psychologically-induced symptoms such as migraines, headaches, dizziness, fatigue/tiredness for no apparent reason, forgetfulness, poor concentration, anger, resentment, irregular bowel habits, irregular eating and drinking habits, and confusion. I would definitely recommend that you speak to a therapist to learn how to reduce your level of anxiety and stress. There are support groups for stress and anxiety.

As far as HIV, viruses cannot survive if the blood is dried in the air for at least an hour as it needs its nutrients to continue to replicate. Having scratch marks depends on whether the other individual's blood contaminate and enter into your system. They must also be HIV positive. The chances are very low... practically 1 in every 500,000 people. So please take a nice deep breath.

As far as contracting sexually transmitted infections, the chances are greatly reduced when you're in a monogomous relationship. However, I always recommend everyone to get a HIV test once every 3 months and a comprehensive STI screening once every 6 months. This is offered for free at your local health department's STD clinic.

As you are working out at a public gym, I do recommend that you get an updated tetanus and meningitis vaccine.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions.

Regards,

John T, MD