Ask a doctor on the topic of Internal medicine

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus.

May 16, 2013 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Michael Schröter

Dear Sir or Madam,
I have a question regarding possible HIV transmission. I consider the risk of this happening to me relatively low, however, it still makes me uneasy as I have not extensively dealt with this topic before.
We have a colleague who is rumored to be HIV-infected. Personally, I do not put much stock in rumors and have never shown any reservations towards this colleague. Similarly, I do not want to ask him about it in order not to offend him.
My hands have been heavily strained in the past few days due to renovation work in my apartment, handling building materials, and frequent hand washing. As a result, my skin has become very dry, rough, and tight. I am trying to improve this by moisturizing frequently (even overnight with pure panthenol cream).
However, I have not been able to prevent small skin cracks from forming (about 2-10 mm in size). Today, I had about three of these cracks on my right hand, which are not gaping bloody wounds, but it is visible that at least the top layer of skin is damaged (they look like small cuts from paper or grass, probably bleeding a bit at first).
So, what happened?
Normally, we only greet each other verbally at work, but today the conscious colleague had a birthday, and a handshake for congratulations was appropriate. This would not usually concern me, as I know that intact skin provides a reliable barrier against infections. However, since my skin is compromised, I am no longer sure. Unfortunately, after shaking hands, I moisturized again without washing my hands first, so I am now considering whether HIV viruses could have been massaged into the small skin cracks as a result.
As far as I could tell, the colleague did not have any visible bleeding skin injuries, only a slight tear in the corner of his thumb (I did not inspect his hand closely - it is possible that due to his manual work, there were small skin tears with minor bleeding in the palm of his hand).
I would like to ask for your expert opinion on how likely it is that an infection with HIV could have occurred due to my small skin injuries and the handshake.

Dr. med. Michael Schröter

Good evening,
in this constellation, the risk is nearly 0 percent.
For an infection to occur, blood with viruses must enter your bloodstream, similar to a puncture wound. HIV can also be transmitted through sexual intercourse via tears in the mucous membranes and semen or vaginal fluid.
Shaking hands without exchanging body fluids does not pose a risk of infection. Transmitting viruses through massage without transferring blood or other fluids is also not possible.
Furthermore, HIV viruses are not infectious in the air without a suitable medium (blood, other body fluids), only very briefly, so they cannot cause harm on dry skin.