Can HIV Be Contracted Through Usage Of Spoons From A Sealed Plastic Bag?

Posted on Tue, 8 Aug 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 8 Aug 2017 Answered on

Thu, 7 Sep 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : i bought spoons in a plastic bag i took out one spoon and i put it in my mouth however i forgot to wash the spoon with soap dish first any hiv hep b,c risk even doe i did pour ammonia on the spoon

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (34 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
risk is very low

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

The bag would have been sealed. This means that it could not have been contaminated with blood products or secretions that could potentially cause HIV or hepatitis.

In addition, HIV virus does not survive well on surfaces, some research suggests that it lives only a few minutes so the spoons would have to be contaminated minutes before you put it in your mouth.

Hepatitis b can survive up to 7 days and hep c, a few weeks but neither of these are normally found on surfaces.

Ammonia would have also affected any virus if present ,though none likely to be present since the bag was sealed.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar