Hiv risk through mouth?

[gingercake]

I would be grateful for some advice and I do apologise if I have posted this question in the wrong place, I'm not very technical and got a bit confused!
My son is a doorman in a nightclub, there was a fight and as he assisting someone who had 4 of their front teeth knocked out some blood was sprayed from this person into my sons face/mouth and clothes etc.My son has bleeding gums always and often has a large cold sore ( herpes) on his lip,I'm not wether he did that night.Anyway, my son tasted the persons blood.
Approximately somewhere between a week and 3 weeks later, my son then became very ill, he had a fever, malaise, aches and pains, exhaustion and awful diahorrea which was near enough constant with nasty stomach pains for a week, a day of no diahorrea then back to another 3 days of diahorrea.I am concerned that the person may of been HIV and that the blood may of entered into my sons bloodstream through a coldsore or bleeding gums when he tasted it in his mouth.I would be most grateful on your opinion for the risk posed? Thankyou in anticipation of your reply.

[RapidRod]

Your son did not have an HIV exposure.

HIV is unable to reproduce outside its living host (unlike many bacteria or fungi, which may do so under suitable conditions), except under laboratory conditions; therefore, it does not spread or maintain infectiousness outside its host.

HIV is transmitted by;
Unprotected penetrative anal and/or vaginal sex
Sharing works with other IV drug users
Mother to child

[gingercake]

This person had their teeth knocked out and fresh blood directly from that wound instantly into my sons mouth, quite a lot of blood spraying out as you can imagine.Surely HIV isn't destroyed by the enviroment if it's immediate? and is a coldsore or bleeding gums a route of entry in this instance? sorry to question you further but I would like to put the matter to rest.

[RapidRod]

Read the first paragraph.

[Ann]

ginger,

Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body, as in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse where the virus never leaves the confines of the two bodies.

Once outside the body, small changes in temperature, and pH and moisture levels all quickly damage the virus and render it unable to infect. For this reason, your son isn't going to be infected with hiv through sprayed blood.

As for "tasting blood", not only is saliva not infectious, but it also contains over a dozen different proteins and enzymes that damage hiv and render it unable to infect.

If your son is sexually active, he should be having regular sexual health check ups. Here's what he needs to know (and I hope you tell him this) in order to protect himself against hiv infection:

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together.

To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results.

Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann

[gingercake]

May I ask for another opinion on this?
This is an immediate splattering of blood possibly into open wounds.
How big a quantity of infected blood is need? 5ml? 10 ml? and are the symptoms I've mentioned typical of sero conversion?

[RapidRod]

May I ask for another opinion on this?
This is an immediate splattering of blood possibly into open wounds.
How big a quantity of infected blood is need? 5ml? 10 ml? and are the symptoms I've mentioned typical of sero conversion?

You will obtain the same answer from everyone else. NO RISK.

[Ann]

ginger,

At the end of the day, if you cannot believe us, tell him to go test. If the illness he had was anything to do with hiv, he'll be testing positive by now. As I already mentioned, if he's sexually active he should be testing regularly anyway. You too, for that matter, unless you're in a securely monogamous relationship where you've both tested negative together.

If he does test positive, he should look to his recent sex partners rather than this nightclub incident. Hiv just isn't that easily transmitted outside an unprotected intercourse or sharing needles setting.

Ann

[jkinatl2]

May I ask for another opinion on this?
This is an immediate splattering of blood possibly into open wounds.
How big a quantity of infected blood is need? 5ml? 10 ml? and are the symptoms I've mentioned typical of sero conversion?

Those of us who are permitted to answer questions in this part of the forum are on the same page as regards HIV transmission theory. If we disagreed, we would let you know.