Dr. Ravinder K. Sachdeva
HIV/AIDS specialist
The following is an actual conversation between an iCliniq user and a doctor that has been reviewed and published as a Premium Q&A.
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Patient's Query
Hi doctor,
I was at the hospital visiting my sister, who is diagnosed with full-blown AIDS. I tried to care for her by putting Vaseline on her lips and feeding her ice and peppermints. I was hesitant to apply the lip gloss. Also, she decided the mints hurt, so she spit the mint out in my hand. I threw it away and used the hospital sanitizer. Should I be concerned that I was exposed and may have contracted the human immune virus (HIV)? I am so stressed. It is unreal. I have a small paper cut on my finger. One site stated that saliva is a bodily fluid that could transfer auto-immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) while others said it is not. I can not test until 60 days after the encounter.
Kindly help.
Hi,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
I read your query and understand your concern.
The answer to your query is that it is not the route of human immune virus (HIV) transmission because:
1)Saliva does not transmit HIV.
2) Quantity of HIV in saliva is not high.
3) Saliva itself has anti-HIV antibodies that kill HIV.
4) There is no evidence to suggest that spitting on another person could expose them to sufficient HIV for HIV infection to occur.
5) It is recommended to wash the site with soap and water or use sanitizer.
I hope your query is answered, but if you still have any other questions, please feel free to ask or call anytime.
Thank you for consulting me.
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HIV/AIDS specialist
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