Hi. I suffer from ocd and anxiety of catching hiv. I am going to therapy for it but would appreciate it if you answer my question. My uncle passed away a little over a month ago. He used to be a drug user and alcoholic. Although my parents say he did not have hiv I find it hard to believe. Anyway here is where my question takes place. My uncle had shingles about 2 years ago and was staying with my grandmothersl. The shingles was on his back. Is there anyway that if he was hiv infected and some blood rubbed off on the couch can it still do damage by sitting on the couch 2 years later? Also my grandmother took in his 2 cats after he died. If they had scratched him and then a couple of days later scratched my grandmother is there any risk? Can dry blood become infectious again if reintroduced to the blood stream? Please answer I need your advice. Thank you!

Hi there:

Nope. No risk. HIV doesn't live well outside of the body. Once the virus is dead, it's dead!

In health, Richard