Is it possible to get HIV from a dentist or beauty salon

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

December 1 is World AIDS Day. Let's talk about the non-obvious ways of transmission of the virus: about infection in dental clinics and nail salons.

In Russia, more than a million people are HIV-positive, and these are only those who know about their status and are registered at a specialized medical center. … Many do not yet realize that they are sick.

This is a real epidemic, so the fears are understandable. Even at school, they say that HIV is transmitted through blood and some biological fluids, that you need to use condoms and, of course, do not inject anything. But is that enough?

In the same schools, since the time of my studies, there have been horror stories about contaminated needles, which are specially scattered in the sandboxes by angry drug addicts (I must say, used syringes in city bushes are not uncommon). Adults do not find themselves in sandpits so often, but they are no less afraid.

After all, HIV is transmitted through blood. So any place where blood appears is dangerous? For example, a dentist's chair or a nail salon. You never know who was with the master, suddenly someone from the infected million.

Lydia Suyagina Author of Lifehacker

I gave up a trim manicure once and for all a few years ago, so the chances of picking up something unpleasant have become less. Interestingly, she has not ceased to be afraid of infection. I can't give any rational explanation for this fear, so I just follow with an eagle's eye every time what the master has with the tools, and bother with questions about how it is all processed. By the way, finding a normal and responsible craftsman who does not neglect the cleanliness of instruments is another quest.

Let's try to figure out what to fear and what is not worth it.

How the virus is transmitted

According to Rospotrebnadzor statistics, the most popular method of infection is non-sterile syringes. … In second place, with a minimal margin, is the sexual route (the picture is different in the world: it is the sexual route that HIV is transmitted most often.). There are far fewer cases of mother-to-child transmission of HIV if the pregnant woman is not on therapy. And the rarest cases are infections in hospitals.

There are no separate dental clinics or nail salons in this list. It was not possible to find information that someone picked up the virus in such ways. But theoretically it is possible.

HIV is an unstable virus; it dies quickly outside the body. But in a drop that is preserved in the syringe needle, it can hold out for up to a week at room temperature, even if the blood has dried. In rare cases (if there was a lot of blood), HIV lasts longer, but the number of active particles decreases every day. … It should be noted that the studies that studied the persistence of HIV were carried out in laboratories and initially used blood with a high concentration of the virus.

The virus is destroyed at high temperatures (when heated to 60 ° C, and even more so when boiled, it dies), but is not afraid of the cold.

That is, in order for HIV to pass to a still healthy person, several conditions are needed:

1. An instrument on which there will be a sufficiently large amount of the blood of a sick person.
2. There is a high concentration of the virus in this blood.
3. Room or cool temperature.
4. A wound through which blood will get to a healthy person.

These conditions exist in dentistry, a beauty salon, and a tattoo parlor. But only in one case: you came to a place where you have not heard about disinfection and sterilization.

How to protect yourself from HIV

Both needles and all kinds of instruments that come into contact with blood are used in the dentist's chair. According to sanitary norms and rules, everything that is not disposable must be disinfected, cleaned and sterilized. A clinic that does not comply with these rules will not be licensed and certified. In tattoo parlors, beauty studios and hairdressing salons, the rules for working with blood are no worse than in hospitals. …

It is difficult to understand how conscientiously the clinic treats the procedures if you yourself do not know by heart all the temperature conditions for processing instruments. Look at the general impression: how clean the rooms are, how many disposable items, is the office well equipped. If very scary, ask your doctor how the instruments are treated.

Don't get paranoid, but it's a good idea to remember that besides HIV, there are other infections that are transmitted through poorly processed instruments. Hepatitis B and C, for example, are more persistent than the immunodeficiency virus and are more contagious.

With a manicure or pedicure, the likelihood of HIV infection is low: less serious cuts during these procedures. But even if you do not do a trim manicure, visit only those salons that monitor the number of tools and their processing. This means that the master cannot have one set at all and that he will tell you without hesitation how and how he sterilizes forceps, scissors and handpieces.

Olga Aleinikova Nurse, master of manicure and pedicure, teacher of training courses

It is difficult to get HIV in a beauty salon. Hepatitis or fungal infections are more contagious. It is important that the sanitary rules of processing must be observed in the salon: disinfection, pre-sterilization cleaning and sterilization.

Young craftsmen often neglect the rules of processing due to negligence and ignorance. Therefore, before entrusting your health to the master, ask what kind of solution he uses and where is the dry oven in the salon.

Hygiene rules are simple: be attentive to yourself and your health, do not go to dubious clinics and salons, do not be afraid to ask if you do not understand something. After all, it's okay to worry about your health.

And donate blood for HIV. Just so as not to worry.