After my meal, I went to the toilet to rinse my mouth. I squirted some hand-soap & proceeded to wash my hands then filled my mouth with tap water & rinsed. When I raised my head I found some left-over blood (certainly not mine) mixed with some water by the side of the tap atop the sink. I was frightened because I have an open ulcer/sore on my lower lip on that day. There are 2 things which I fear:- 1. That the hand-soap MAY be tainted with blood because the soap dispenser can be easily opened/tampered with. Hence, after having applied some of it on my hands, washed it then rinsed my mouth and in this process, the HIV virus may have gotten in my blood stream via my mouth. 2. The sink being small have caused some tap water to splash against the blood & deflected/bounced back onto my palm when I tried to "cup" the water to rinse my mouth & the HIV may have entered via my mouth.

If the blood is HIV positive, can I be infected this way via my OPEN ulcer/sore on my lip? Is a blood test required?

Thanks.

Dear Mouth ulcer,

This is a very unlikely scenario. HIV is not that easily transmitted. It is also likely to be killed by soap very easily. However I would never discourage anyone from being tested. If you have ever had sex, then you could be at risk. So why worry? Go get tested! Good luck! DTD