Can you get infected with HIV from a manicure? Probability of infection

The article was prepared with the support of the site eleps.ru

In Russia, more than a million people are infected with HIV. And these are only those who know about their status and are registered with a specialized medical center. But many do not even realize that they may be HIV positive.

The number of infected people is only growing, so scientists and doctors are concerned that people know as much as possible about the routes of infection and are careful. First of all, to protect yourself from a dangerous virus, you need to use condoms and, of course, not inject yourself with anything. But this is not enough.

Scientists are warning people about the possible dangers of common beauty tools, especially ones like cuticle scissors. They are more likely to cause minor cuts as this can lead to the transmission of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

Can you get infected with HIV from a manicure?

The most common ways of contracting HIV are unsterile syringes and unprotected sex. Less common are cases of mother-to-child transmission of the virus if she does not take therapy. And the rarest are infections in hospitals and beauty salons.

The human immunodeficiency virus quickly dies outside the body. However, it can persist for a long time in a dried drop of blood. This means that contaminated blood can remain in microcracks in manicure and pedicure instruments.

Conditions under which HIV infection can occur through manicure in salons:

1. an instrument containing sufficient blood of an infected person;
2. high viral load in the blood;
3. Room or cool temperature;
4. A wound, cut or ulcer through which the virus can enter a healthy person.

Cases of HIV infection from manicures are not common, but they do exist. For example, a recent case highlighted the dangers of sharing manicure supplies. The woman shared her manicure set with her cousin, who was HIV positive at the time. Ten years later, tests for HIV infection showed that the woman was infected. Later, a genetic test of the woman's and her cousin's blood for the virus showed that sharing a manicure set was the source of her HIV infection.  

However, scientists were quick to warn that this case of HIV infection is not common and occurs only in rare cases.

The likelihood of contracting HIV from manicure

Some beauty salons neglect to sterilize manicure instruments after each use. This obviously poses a risk to clients as it greatly increases the risk of transmission of certain diseases such as HIV due to unsterile equipment being shared with multiple clients.  

In order to become infected with HIV through a manicure, the blood on manicure tools does not need to be fresh for HIV to survive, as scientists have discovered that the human immunodeficiency virus can survive in dried blood for up to 7 days. 

Of course, there is no need to panic about every manicure or pedicure procedure. You can become infected with HIV from a manicure only if the person who used the same tools previously was HIV-positive and if during this procedure both he and you received a cut.

According to sanitary rules, any clinic that uses any non-disposable instruments is required to disinfect, clean and sterilize them after each procedure. Otherwise, the clinic or salon will not be certified and will not receive a license.

It is difficult to understand how conscientiously the clinic treats sterilization if you yourself do not know by heart all the temperature conditions for processing instruments. Look at the overall impression: how clean the premises are, whether the office is well equipped. It would be even better to ask the master directly how he processes the tools.

But the simplest and most reliable way to protect yourself from HIV infection during a manicure is to insist that the master sterilize the tools in your presence. In addition, you can take your own manicure kit with you when visiting the beauty salon.

Prevention of HIV infection through manicure

Despite the fact that the likelihood of contracting HIV from manicure is very low compared to other methods of HIV transmission (for example, through unprotected sex or sharing injection equipment), it still exists. Therefore, in order to protect yourself when visiting a beauty salon, we recommend paying attention to the following points:

• The master must perform manicure and pedicure wearing clean disposable gloves;
• The salon must have all the necessary equipment and solutions for sterilizing instruments;
• The master should have several manicure sets available; if there is only one set, most likely, the instruments are not sterilized after each client;
• Before starting the procedure, the master treats his and the client’s hands with an antiseptic.

Also, to prevent HIV infection during manicure, you can:

• Choose the least traumatic technique for performing manicure or pedicure, for example: unedged or hardware technique;
• Come to the salon with your own manicure accessories;
• Do manicures and pedicures at home yourself, and only perform nail polishing or other procedures in a beauty salon that eliminate the possibility of damage to the skin.

When you come to a beauty salon, do not hesitate to ask the nail specialist all your questions about the processing and sterility of instruments. If such questions cause confusion or irritation, it is better to find another place, because health is much more important than the time spent searching for a new beauty salon that meets all the requirements and standards of SANPiN.