# So is hiv from surface cut to cut more theoretical than what really happens?



## freakingout (Feb 6, 2010)

I've also found a doc who thinks that hiv is possible from deep tissuse wounds and not surface wounds?

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/Hiv-RIsk-from-Cut/show/1738892
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/-cut-on--sensitive-skin-and-pin/show/1737871

I'm basically looking for c*onfirmation *that it's more of deep tissue thing and not a surface thing that spreads HIV.


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## Music Man (Aug 22, 2009)

You're thinking too much about it again - try and focus on something else.


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## MachineSupremacist (Jun 9, 2012)

It would be difficult to exchange any blood through cuts. Remember, you're under positive pressure - blood is oozing out instead of in. The volumes involved are small and viral loads are often close to zero.

Cutting your finger and using it to stop an arterial bleed on a HIV-positive individual would probably be a bad idea. The virus doesn't live long outside the body and the CDC's website says there has never been a documented case of environmental transmission, but I wouldn't want to wade through a still-warm lake of HIV-infected blood to test it. When in doubt just wear gloves and use common sense.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

freakingout said:


> I've also found a doc who thinks that hiv is possible from deep tissuse wounds and not surface wounds?
> 
> http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/Hiv-RIsk-from-Cut/show/1738892
> http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV-Prevention/-cut-on--sensitive-skin-and-pin/show/1737871
> ...


Remember, somebody has to have it for someone to get it. Second, it is a virus that cannot live outside the body or on objects for very long. If you cut yourself on a nail or something, you would be FAR more likely to get tetanus than HIV. Hypodermic needles are a different story, but I know that you would not have those kinds of things laying around the house.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Well, that still doesn't mean anything. Just don't touch them.


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## 427 (Aug 6, 2012)

A few have also become infected by HIV-infected blood getting into the bloodstream through an open cut, or splashing onto a mucous membrane (e.g. the eyes or the inside of the nose)


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