# Can You Get AIDS In The Following Scenarios? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421 "2011-05-19T05:31:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/1 "2011-05-19T05:31:39Z")
Can you get HIV/AIDS from: -Seating on a toilet seat with infected blood/semen/vaginal fluids/etc. -Touching a material with infected bodily fluid before touching a cut or opening in your body. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/2 "2011-05-19T05:34:30Z")
[http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/transmission.htm](http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/qa/transmission.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/3 "2011-05-19T06:02:11Z")
From what I understand (and I fully admit I may have some details wrong), you can contract HIV (not AIDS, which is a syndrome that follows HIV infection) if infectious bodily fluids contact either your bloodstream or a mucousal surface. So, with regards to your scenario 1. The body fluids on the toilet seat must still have infectious virons (or viruses, can’t remember which) AND must contact your bloodstream or a mucousal surface (if you’re a male you don’t have mucousal surfaces around your genitalia/perineum so it’s not really an issue) 2. From what I understand, yes. However, the chances of getting HIV from either of these scenarios is really, really small. According to Oakminister’s link, the chances of contracting HIV from a needlestick with a needle that was previously in a positive patient (so blood-to-blood) is less than 1%. So you can imagine how unlikely you are to get it from a toilet seat. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/4 "2011-05-19T13:08:03Z")
Both scenarios are highly unlikely to cause transmission of HIV (not AIDS). I suppose the second one could if you set it up correctly so that you really tried to get it. But it’d take a lot of fluid, a very quick transmission time, and a deep wound before it’s even plausible, let alone probable. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/5 "2011-05-19T13:23:08Z")
Highly, highly unlikely. Despite what many people think, contracting HIV is actually rather difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/6 "2011-05-19T13:23:24Z")
You can get HIV from a handshake or a kiss if open wounds line up correctly. There’s nothing magic about sex in this respect but, honestly, how often _would_ the open wounds line up that perfectly? ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/7 "2011-05-19T15:46:28Z")
I’ve heard that the chances of contracting HIV, even from unprotected sex with an HIV positive person, are surprisingly low. And I’m talking less-than-1% low, even for the woman: [this site](http://www.indiaparenting.com/sex-education/143_22/risk-of-infection-from-a-hiv-+ve-source.html) for instance makes such a claim. A number of factors make transmission more likely: if either party already has another STD that supposedly can raise the odds by increasing the number of white blood cells in the area. Or if either party has cuts or sores on the genitalia. Even blood transfusions, which involves large quantities of infected blood being directly transfused in your own blood, don’t necessarily involve transmission: that site above claims it’s about 90-95% transmission rate with blood transfusions. So given that, how likely do you think it is that it’s going to transfer in your scenarios? I’d guess the first scenario is probably 0%, and the second one is infinitesimally small. However, the thing with all these scenarios, is that if they’re iterated enough and if extra risk-factors are involved then you start to get a worryingly number of people contracting the virus, despite the relatively low transmission odds in any individual scenario. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/8 "2011-05-19T16:15:52Z")
Really, _all_ STDs are really hard to transmit. Almost any communicable disease can be transmitted via sex, but most of them can also be transmitted in a lot of easier ways, too. The ones we call STDs are the ones that are so hard to transmit that all of those common ways don’t work at all, and the only way (or one of a very small number of ways) left for it to be transmitted is via sex. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/9 "2011-05-19T16:17:17Z")
It’s hard to give accurate stats as we don’t test with HIV. One interesting thing in studies regarding medical professionals who get stuck with needles containing HIV, most do not develop HIV even after being stuck multiple times. However there are in fact people that have been stuck once and only once and contracted HIV. This has lead some researchers to suggest there may be some other co-factor involved in whether or not you get HIV. As an aside, they found with Lassa Fever a very serious illness endemic to West Africa, if you can tell you’ve been stuck with a needle with Lassa Fever or been exposed, and go to the doctor, they can test your blood for antibodies and tell by your response how serious the illness will be. And again, the found West Africans have a more aggressive immune response as they live with it daily, but there are some non-natives that will respond with an aggressive antibodie response and other will have none. Back to HIV, it seems to strongly set around direct blood to blood or semen to blood contact. Even in households where toothbrushes were shared, they don’t have cases of HIV being transmitted that way. HIV through oral sex is thought to be spread through semen to blood contact, with the mouth having open wounds, due to sores, or just bad teeth. By age 30 half of all Americans have gum disease and by the time you hit 40 almost all Americans do. So you can get lot of minor bleeding in the mouth without you knowing it. A study done in San Francisco showed about 8% of HIV+ people got it through oral sex. Saliva is an HIV inhibitor. It doesn’t kill HIV, but it stunts it and that helps prohibit transmission that way. Also HIV in the stomach is easily destroyed by the stomach juices. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/10 "2011-05-19T16:53:00Z")
Also, IIRC, the AIDS virus dies pretty quickly in cool, drying situations; so you have to be pretty quick about plunking yourself down on that toilet seat (and lining up the infected goods with an open sore on your body) IIRC one study found that uncircumcised men are 5 times more likely to contract AIDS from a risky act (involving that part) than circumcised men. Similarly, women are much more likely to contract AIDS from a parner than men - since the inside foreskin and vagina, both mucous tissues, are more likely to suffer micro-tears during vigorous action and allow infection into the bloodstream. Remember that even when they knew they were looking for a virus back in the 80’s, it took two competing labs several months to actually find a virus in the blood stream. The virus population is extremely rare compared to most serious infections, so again with a random contraction from a minor exposure to possibly contaminated materials - the odds are pretty low. From secondary transfer - touching infected material then touching your wound - I would guess the odds of a virus making the connection is low. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/11 "2011-05-19T18:09:26Z")
I initially read the OP as “Can You Get AIDS From The Following Sentence?” I briefly imagined some _Ring_-style horror-movie scenario, where you die in a few days if you read the cursed sentence. I reflexively jerked my mouse off the preview. > [@Derleth](#): > > You can get HIV from a handshake… :eek: Oh, boy; wait until our resident handshake hater discovers this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/12 "2011-05-19T18:20:30Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Oh, boy; wait until our resident handshake hater discovers this thread. He raped me with his handshake _and_ gave me AIDS. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/13 "2011-05-19T18:26:03Z")
Well there is a reason that doctors, nurses, dental hygenists, etc. routinely mask and glove-up when dealing with the general population. They are regularly coming into contact with the areas of their patients that generate bodily fluids. They themselves may or may not have an open wound on their hands, so why take the chance. Now most everyday folks aren’t about to go sticking their fingers into the bodily orifices of our co-workers or strangers. So not so much a need to be gloved-up or masked. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/14 "2011-05-19T19:59:18Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Well there is a reason that doctors, nurses, dental hygenists, etc. routinely mask and glove-up when dealing with the general population. They are regularly coming into contact with the areas of their patients that generate bodily fluids. They themselves may or may not have an open wound on their hands, so why take the chance. > > Now most everyday folks aren’t about to go sticking their fingers into the bodily orifices of our co-workers or strangers. So not so much a need to be gloved-up or masked. They aren’t doing this just because of HIV, there are quite a few blood borne pathogens you are going to come in contact with that have a much greater virulence than HIV, for instance Hepatitis C and B. The CDC data says that risk of contracting Hep C is 1.8% after exposure to the pathogen in a health care setting, for Hep B the number is anywhere from 6-30% (depends on the HBeAg status of patient), HIV the number is 0.3%. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/15 "2011-05-20T02:45:19Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > if you’re a male you don’t have mucousal surfaces around your genitalia/perineum … :eek: Unless you have suffered a horrific accident you do. The epithelium of the glans is entirely mucous membrane. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/16 "2011-05-20T03:00:03Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I initially read the OP as “Can You Get AIDS From The Following Sentence?” > … > I reflexively jerked my mouse off… > > :eek: edited for your convenience ---
**Author:** ![h4ckys4ck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@h4ckys4ck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h4ckys4ck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/17 "2011-05-20T12:01:19Z")
I don’t know if this counts as anecdotal evidence- [http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/smamurai/326287](http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/smamurai/326287) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/18 "2011-05-20T14:32:05Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > He raped me with his handshake _and_ gave me AIDS. It’s probably more likely with involuntary handshakes, because the body doesn’t naturally produce sweat like normal so there is more tearing of the palms. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/19 "2011-05-29T21:34:24Z")
How long to AIDS viruses survive in the open air? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421/20 "2011-05-30T00:09:42Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > ?.. > Now most everyday folks aren’t about to go sticking their fingers into the bodily orifices of our co-workers or strangers. So not so much a need to be gloved-up or masked. It helps in the lineup if you wear the mask, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-aids-in-the-following-scenarios/582421.md?page=2)