HIV: Manicure Equipment As Mode of HIV Transmission

Can HIV be transmitted through manicure tools? According to a recent study, a 22-year-old woman was diagnosed with HIV after having her nails done using shared manicure equipment.

Doctors say the case, detailed in a medical journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, has revealed a new form of transmission for the virus.

Here is the full abstract of the study:

A recently diagnosed 22-year-old female with no history of transmission risk factors prompted a thorough investigation of possible alternative risk factors. As the patient had evidence of advanced disease and laboratory data compatible with long-standing infection, past events were reviewed. About 10 years ago the patient shared manicure utensils with an older cousin, later known to be HIV infected; this prompted the phylogenetic analysis of the HIV sequences of both patients. Phylogenetic analyses of partial HIV-1 polymerase and envelope sequences from both patients revealed highly related sequences, with an estimated common ancestor date (about 11 years ago) that coincided with the putative sharing of manicure instruments, during a time in which the cousin was not virally suppressed. Taken together, the information about the infection of this patient suggests the use of shared manicure instruments as an alternative route of fomite HIV-1 transmission

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already outline several mechanisms by which HIV spreads, including some common routes like sharing needles and having sex with someone HIV-positive, and other less frequently talked about, like being bitten by someone with HIV or eating food that was pre-chewed by someone with HIV. Manicure utensils are not part of this list.

“HIV is not transmitted by casual contact, such as sharing eating utensils, or drinking from the same water glass,” says AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses Basic Sciences Editor/Sequence Notes Brian Foley, PhD, HIV Sequence Database, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM. “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. 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.”

Elaine Monteiro Matsuda and coauthors from Santo André AIDS Program, Adolfo Lutz Institute, and University of São Paulo, Brazil conducted the research.

The full PDF file of the article can be downloaded here.