Dried Blood, HIV & Hair?

Question

Have a quick question, and I hope you guys can help. I was bending down to pick something up off the floor at a retail store the other day and the front of my hair, on the way back up, grazed a wall. When I looked at the wall, I noticed there was a large amount of dried blood. My hair came into direct contact with dried blood! I went home and washed it with anti-bacterial soap, but I am still worried that I may have cought something from the blood. Is it possible for HIV or any other virus to some how attach itself to my hair and live in there? Any other recommendations as to how to further wash it out? Should I go get a haircut?

Thanks so much,
Bob

Thanks guy. As a hypothetical, what would one do if they got blood in their hair, as in active, wet blood for someone else? How would you get it out of your hair so that, if there was anything in it, you would kill an infection?

Thanks

Answer 1

you can't get HIV thru your hair. it must be thru blood to blood contact. your hair is dead anyways so don't worry...

Answer 2

You absolutely do not need to be worried. The HIV virus is very fragile -- if it had been on the wall long enough for the blood to dry, the virus would have died. Even supposing that your wet hair did somehow "reactivate" the virus -- which, I assure you, is quite impossible -- you would have to have to have an open (as in currently bleeding) wound on your head to be at risk for infection from a blood-bourne illness. If you still feel icky about possibly having someone else's blood on your head, by all means, take another shower, but even that is unecessary. Certainly don't do anything more drastic.

Answer 3

The HIV virus is very fragile, if there was dried blood on the walls, the HIV virus was dead.

On the other hand, hepatitis can live a long time. If it only got your hair and there were no cuts, you should be fine. BTW- antibacterial shampoos don't kill viruses.

Don't get your hair cut, that would not accomplish anything.

Answer 4

HIV can only live about 2 seconds outside of the body..so if it was dried blood, then no you cannot contract HIV from the dried blood on the wall!

Answer 5

Bacteria and viruses must feed off of something, just like cells. Depending on how long the blood had been there, anything infecting the blood would have died already.

It's highly unlikely you would contract an illness that way, anyway. You're being rather paranoid.

Answer 6

no of course not, unless you have an open wound. but im guessing if it did have a virus on that wall it would have died. but if your that worried then go get tested, i mean we all should havent you watched that mtv commercials