Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
I have a question. There was water leakage from the roof of my apartment. There is a dirty cloth that my roommates use to clean the mess in the apartment. I use the cloth to clean water leakage on the floor and put it in the bucket to stop the leakage.
The day after, when I was cleaning, I dropped some water from a bucket with a cloth on my feet, which had very small abrasions (in the picture). I am scared that the cloth contains HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) or other contaminants before I use it.
Kindly suggest.
Thank you.
Hello,
Welcome to icliniq.com
I understand your concern.
I have reviewed the images (attachment removed to protect the patient's identity). You have a fear of transmission of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) or other microbes from dirty water or cloth to your feet. Do not worry about it. There is no risk of HIV transmission at all.
I hope this helps.
Kindly follow up if you have more concerns.
Regards.
Thank you.
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
Let me know if there is any risk. I experienced a contamination phobia lately.
Kindly suggest.
Thank you.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com
I understand your concern.
Transmission of HIV occurs through blood, semen, breast milk, vaginal fluid, needles, etc, from a person who is a known case of HIV with significant viral load to the other person. In your case, there is no such exchange of fluids, and so there is no risk of HIV transmission.
Just free yourself from the thought of HIV transmission. As far as other microbes are concerned, there is no such risk of bacterial transmission as well. I have looked at your image (attachments removed to protect patient identity), and I do not see any abrasions on your foot. Overall, no microbes got transferred due to a spill of water from the bucket on your foot.
I hope this helps.
Kindly follow up if you have more concerns.
Thank you.
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
So, microbes cannot enter? I have very small abrasions on my middle toe and middle left toe although they have scabbed over.
Kindly suggest.
Thank you.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com
I understand your concern.
The water collection you have mentioned is not contaminated with microbes, as it is only one day old. This type of water is not dirty enough to contain a lot of bacteria and other microbes. Also, the abrasion is covered with a scab, which would not allow the microbes to enter. Do not worry. You did not catch any infection because of it.
I hope this helps.
Kindly follow up if you have more concerns.
Regards.
Thank you.
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
Thank you so much for your help. I will stop worrying now.
Kindly suggest.
Thank you.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com
I understand your concern.
You can follow up on this chat if you want to ask any health-related queries in the future.
I hope this helps.
Thank you.
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
So, recently I learned that there was a leak from the apartment upstairs. I am not sure whether the water is clean or dirty, but the water is light brownish. Suppose it was dirty water or sewer water, which is the risk of infection or blood-borne diseases. I have not experienced any symptoms lately.
Kindly suggest.
Thank you.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com
I understand your concern.
No, there is no risk of blood-borne infection in your case. I am sure the water would not be dirty, and let us say even if it is dirty, it would not cause infection, as there was no major break in the skin of your foot, and this kind of infection does not occur so easily as in your case.
Do not worry at all. The risk of infection increases in cases if someone has a break or abrasion in the skin and the water is contaminated, such as sewage water, etc. Now you can compare your situation with the one I have mentioned. So, you did not catch any infection or blood-borne infection due to leakage of water from upstairs.
I hope this helps.
Kindly follow up if you have more concerns.
Thank you.
Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
Thank you for replying and letting me know. I have another question about another incident. Can you help me with this? Yesterday, I was cleaning my carpet with foaming carpet cleaner. I was cleaning an area where I keep my shoes because I think that I walked on dried blood a day ago.
However, I was spraying the cleaner on the carpet area, and some of the spray flew and entered my eye. I rinsed my eye with about 15 flushes about 40 minutes after the incident.
Kindly suggest.
Thank you.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com
I understand your concern.
You mentioned that you might have stepped on blood a day ago. The important insight in this is that you have mentioned 'might,' which means you are not sure so do not keep on thinking about it, as you are not sure as it will consume your mental energy unnecessarily second thing let us say it happened but the fact is dried blood which is a day old does not carry HIV as virus dies quickly upon exposure to light and air.
Therefore, it does not generally pose a risk of contracting HIV. As far as other infections are concerned, there is no chance of infection transmission in the scenario you have mentioned above. You do not have to take PEP at all. You should calm yourself, and you have not caught any infection. You do not have to worry, and I can assure you that no infection was transmitted in the above scenario, as you have mentioned in the query.
I hope this helps.
Kindly follow up if you have more concerns.
Thank you.
Was this conversation helpful?
Answered byDr. Basuki Nath Bhagat
Medically reviewed byiCliniq medical review team
Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!
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