Hi, Im concerned I may have been exposed to HIV. I was wondering that if a person ejaculated and left residuals of semen in a doorknob and I touched the doorknob three or four minutes later with a little cut in my finger, could HIV be transmitted that way? Or how long does semen survive in order to infect outside the body? It's because this happened to me in an adult video store or peep show, I don't know how to call it. My cut was small, but it was bleeding a little at the moment (the cut was actually from a fingerstick I had 10min earlier for some a blood test). Im a gay man and the person that was using the private video booth was supposedly gay too, because it was a gay bookstore. He left the booth and entered in the same booth three or four minutes later. When a saw his sperm on the floor I decided to leave, but then when I opened the door from the inside, I noticed there was some sperm on the doorknob, which touched the fingerstick I had on my index finger. I would like to ask if its possible to get HIV this way.

Hi Getting HIV from casual contact is not possible. HIV begins to die once it is outside of the body. Direct body fluid exchange is the only way for HIV transmission to occur. The cut on the hand needs to be a significant wound and freshly opened and the HIV that it is exposed to is also in large volume.

So again, no need to be worried about transmission with the scenario you have described.

Be well and stay safe, Shannon