Nov 27 2008
How HIV can’t spread?
Ryan (name changed) was a teacher at a school in my locality. He was married and had been working at the school since the past 10 years. All hell broke lose when he found out that he had HIV. He lost his job, people started giving him weird looks. His wife was the only one by his side.
People were wondering if they had the disease as well as they had a meal at Ryan’s house a month back. They had a drink from his glass, were they infected too?
Ignorance is the mother of all evils.
Here are ways by which HIV cannot spread.
HIV does not survive well outside the body.
#1 Casual Contact: The virus only spreads by sexual contact or needle-sharing with an infected person. It does not spread by by attending same venues like schools.
#2 Other body secretions like saliva, sweat, tears, urine or feces.
#3 Touching common objects like toilet seats.
#4 Insects. Blood sucking insects, such as mosquitoes, do not inject blood into the next person they bite.
#5 No animal (pets) has ever been shown to transmit the virus to humans.
Toothbrushes have resulted in transmission very rarely, so it’s best not to share. The risk of transmission in a household is extremely low if intimate contact does not occur.
