Hello Dr. Frascino, hope you are well, 1st i'd like to point out that post you replied to regards your infection was very touching your a man of high morals & obviously highly respected all over the world, so hopefully if you have time in your schedule you can answer a quick question about transmission by blood getting into a cut, my story is when i was uptown the other night we walked past a girl who had been in some altrecation as she was on the floor with a bleeding lip, i put my hand out & helped her up(as everybody else just walked past, typical of the day & age we are in), when i got into the pub i noticed smuged blood on my hand off her hand from her lip,so very fresh, i didnt think anything of it, i went to the toilets & washed my hands not immediatley but when i noticed the blood a couple of minutes later or so. I was ok until a friend(who works in healthcare) but not in an STD clinic pointed out the cut on my hand & then proceded in his very official manner(i say that tongue in cheek)to inform me of the possibility of a non-sexual HIV exposure. My cut which at the time i helped the girl, was about 6 & 1/2 almost 7 days old. It wasn't deep like a cut you would expect to get if you sliced into your finger by a knife, just the top layer or three of skin (i nipped my finger using scissors, the scourge of being left handed) & it isn't over a big area possibly about 4mm(if that) in diameter & even when i 1st cut it, it hardly bled at all. On the night i helped the damsel in distress it looked almost healed just 2 possibly 3 dried pinpricks of blood but the top layer & possibly the next layer was open as in not fully intact skin,kinda like when you pick dried skin off with almost new skin underneath, but not like a sore you would get if you burst or picked a blister off which can be very raw & tender this was dry & it felt rough (im about 99.99% certain it wasnt bleeding) My question is from this whats the possibility of HIV infection as im unsure of the girls status & i'll be honest im not even sure if the blood was on the same finger as my cut & i didnt think to look. I have searched the forums & google(big mistake), & have found varying definitions of blood & fresh/open cut etc etc & skin integrity so any help would be most welcome, i have seen some of your answers in the posts i have read & understand you can't always give an answer as you can't see the cut but im hoping the fact its 6-7 days old is on my side. I'm due to test again next year( i do it for peace of mind) so your help will be a source of great comfort in the interim, as a note i did ring my STD clinic who said they didn't think it was necessary to test on the information given(which is exactly what im posting to you) but they would if i asked them, do you think i should test?? your website seems to be very knowledgable as do you as an expert, hence my post & i value your opinion(going off your other replies to other peoples questions) as much as i value the lady at the STD clinics opinion. If there is an answer in the archives that i missed while perusing your site i will say a heartfelt sorry now for waisting your time & the least i can do is send you a donation if you could point me in the right direction... Good luck with the future & all you do & i would like to wish you all the best for the festive season & new year.

Hi,

As your post points out, HIV testing is always available, but your HIV risk is so remote as to be in the essentially nonexistent category. Neither worry nor HIV testing is warranted. If HIV were that easily transmitted, it would have wiped out the planet long ago.

Thanks for your kind comments. Donation information for The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation can be found at the foundation's Web site at www.concertedeffort.org.

Happy Holidays.

Dr. Bob