Is contracting HIV through punching someone a possible outcome?

C

Casket

New Member
First my apologies because I have already asked this question many years ago but the thread is no longer around. So this is a variation of the same question. Is the following scenario possible? If let's say someone uses a big right hook which causes the other guy's gums to bleed and then a second punch which connects to the guy's tooth which has HIV infected blood on it because the gum blood has dripped on it. Is this an accurate way to contract HIV? If not, are there more believable,possible and accurate fight-connected ways of getting the virus that you can describe/tell me? Thanks in advance.
 
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Casket said:
First my apologies because I have already asked this question many years ago but the thread is no longer around. So this is a variation of the same question. Is the following scenario possible? If let's say someone uses a big right hook which causes the other guy's gums to bleed and then a second punch which connects to the guy's tooth which has HIV infected blood on it because the gum blood has dripped on it. Is this an accurate way to contract HIV? If not, are there more believable,possible and accurate fight-connected ways of getting the virus that you can describe/tell me? Thanks in advance.
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I searched for this and found this:

"It would be extremely unlikely, but not impossible for HIV to be transmitted through a fight. Theoretically, the fight needs to be bad enough that there is a decent amount of blood and also, there are open wounds that are deep enough to allow the virus to enter the bloodstream.

If there is blood present, then theoretically there is a risk of transmission. So yes, it can happen but the likelihood of it happening is very, very small. If you’ve been in a fight with someone and you’re worried, getting tested just for the peace of mind is always a good idea."
Source: Can you get HIV from fighting? - NWAC STBBI

So your scenario may work, but the wound from the tooth needs to be deep and connected to the bloodstream. I would say that this sort of thing is plausible and since you're writing fiction you have a degree of freedom here as well.

Some things you may want to do is avoid going into too much detail, just write that the hand got a deep wound from the tooth, and that there was a lot of blood from both of them and you should be fine in my opinion.
 
In general, hand infections transmitted from teeth to knuckles during fistfights are common enough that there's a name for them I don't recall.

Transmitting AIDS through a single encounter of any kind other than medical blood transfusion is uncommon but does happen, so your scenario as described is at least plausible.
 
Naomasa298 said:
Though HIV is no longer quite the automatic death sentence that it used to be with modern anti-retroviral drugs.
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If I want the character with HIV to be someone who is well-remembered after his death, then I should I set the story during the 90s in order to have the character die (without very advanced modern HIV medicine)? Or were the HIV medicine during the 90s already sophisticated enough to lengthen the lifespan of someone with HIV?
 
Another question. I saw an episode of one of those CSI shows which had a plot of some guy stabbing someone and the blood splattered onto his eyes and his eye vein being exposed, he got HIV. Is that really possible?* If yes, then which are the body parts that could be slashed/stabbed that would cause a blood splatter? I think certain body parts will "splatter" more than others when injured.

*I thought that when blood exits the body through splattering, the virus dies in few seconds by exposure to the air?
 
Casket said:
If I want the character with HIV to be someone who is well-remembered after his death, then I should I set the story during the 90s in order to have the character die (without very advanced modern HIV medicine)? Or were the HIV medicine during the 90s already sophisticated enough to lengthen the lifespan of someone with HIV?
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Well, heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison (who appeared in Rocky V) apparently had his first positive test in 1989, and it was confirmed in 1996. He was banned, but made a brief comeback in 2008, after testing negative (meaning he had a negligible viral load). He died in 2013. He would probably have lived longer, but I suspect, given that his wife was an HIV denier, he wasn't looking after himself properly, although I have no evidence of that.
 
Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear. He had blood in his mouth, and if he had had a mouth wound, and Holyfield had been HIV positive, the risk would have been high.
 
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