I play a lot of rugby and there’s quite often someone who gets a bloody nose or something. If blood lands on me and that person is infected can I become infected? If I wash it off immediately with soap is that enough to prevent infection?

Since the discovery of HIV, universal precautions of handling blood are that you should always wear gloves to avoid accidental infection by coming into contact with infected blood. If you want to help a bleeding person, you should always make sure that you are wearing gloves.

In the case of a sport, such as rugby, washing off the blood immediately when it lands on you is a good measure. But you must remember that the blood must land on an open wound for infection to occur. It will therefore important that you cover any wound you have before you play the game.

It is also important that your team finds as much information as possible about HIV so that you know how to protect yourselves, and also how to make sure that you do not discriminate against players with HIV.

Good Luck