Nails | HIV Manicure Case Shows How Vital Sterilising Your Tools Really Is

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The Ed.

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It's an isolated incident, and a very low risk, but 'very low' doesn't mean impossible and now, a report in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, has outlined how a woman contracted HIV from sharing manicure tools with her HIV-positive cousin.

The 22 year old woman was diagnosed with advanced HIV after her tests revealed she had been infected for about ten years. She was exposed to none of the other risk factors and, when tested, it showed that the virus she was infected with had a common ancestor to that of her cousin.

Dr Brian Foley, of the HIV Sequence Database at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, said the case should not make people scared of contact with people with the virus, as the risk of infection is very low.

He went on to explain, "HIV is not transmitted by casual contact, such as sharing eating utensils, or drinking from the same water glass. This transmission of HIV by shared manicure equipment is a very rare event that should serve not to make people fear HIV or contact with HIV-infected people."

However, the case could promote caution around sharing items which may contain blood, he said.

"It should make people aware that sharing any utensils with possible blood-blood contact, such as needles used for drugs, tattoos, or acupuncture can result in transmission of viruses such as hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV.

"In addition, there are other common viruses and bacteria that can also be spread by sharing equipment without proper disinfection between users."

Dr Michael Brady, Medical Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, was keen to stress that this was an extremely isolated incident - perhaps the only one of its kind known about - and wanted to emphasise that the majority of HIV cases are still spread through unprotected sex. The message regarding practicing safe sex is still the most important one.

However, it's a wake up call for all salons to remind them of the importance of sterilising tools.

Until then…geek on!

The Ed.
 

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What's the safest way to sterilise? X

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Thats extremely rare since HIV in blood dies when exposed to air in a matter of minutes
 

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