Maid has AIDS

[concernedmother]

Hello, i found out our new maid has hiv. She had lived with us for 3 weeks and on saterday we got the results from her health check, we feared when finding out that she was going to try infect us out of anger for her results, so we had her removed from the house.

how can i take precaution in the future and prevent hiring another maid with HIV and when should we and the children get tested for AIDS? she prepared all our  food including uncooked meals, washed our clothing, rooms and dishes, basically we were around her in close contact for nearly 3 weeks so i am very upset and fearful.

Please help me with this situation, when can we test? 

[leatherman]

Unless someone in your family had unprotected anal/vaginal sex or shared injection needles with your employee, you and your family have no risk of HIV. If your maid was on antiretroviral medication and had an undetectable viral load for six months or if your maid had protected (used condoms) sex with someone in your house, no one would have been exposed to HIV either.

you have no reason to test because you were never at risk.

There's no way to screen out people living from HIV who might apply for employment with you; but I hope, after what I've told you here, that you treat the next person you meet with HIV better than this person

[concernedmother]

I am not sure you understand that she was not on antiretroviral medication and for 3 weeks she touched us, our food and everything in the house and we can rule out saliva contact or what if she had a cut or had a sore or by accident used our toothbrushes as that would make it even more risky for us.

Please, please when should we test after this risk?  were worried about testing locally and people finding out so we will travel to get tested.

There's no way to screen out people living from HIV who might apply for employment with you

this is scary, why can't people be honest upfront so you can hire the right people for the job. the maid knew we had children before accepting the job 

 

[Jim Allen]

You have obviously not taken the time to read Micheal's clear, polite and reassuring answer to your post.

Your concerns lack any of the biological conditions simultaneously needed for the maid to pass on HIV. Please understand that HIV is fragile; in brief, the receptors needed to infect corrode outside the confines of the body, leaving it unable to infect, and saliva does not contain viable HIV and is actually hostile towards HIV. These are only some of the main barriers to your concerns.

So HIV is not passed on by eating food or drinks handled, prepared or served by somebody who is HIV positive. Shared toilets, telephones or clothing, forks, spoons, knives, drinking glasses or by touching, hugging or kissing a person who is HIV positive and this list is endless and pointless as what you need to know is that the maid was no HIV risk to you or anyone in your household unless you were engaging in condomless sex or sharing syringes with her to inject drugs.

So, if you are having sex with the maid, use condoms and don't share syringes.

this is scary, why can't people be honest upfront so you can hire the right people for the job. the maid knew we had children before accepting the job

The scary truth is that people will always treat others so outrageously badly; even uneducated on HIV, the total overreaction you had instead of taking a moment to educate yourself speaks volumes, and I would be willing to bet from your post and the tone that your bad treatment of others isn't limited to HIV status.

It's lazy to stay within your comfort zone & echo chamber in life, holding onto preconceptions of others and then treat those who are different badly and play the victim. If not because of someone's HIV status, there are plenty of other reasons like race, nationality, ability, sex, gender, sexuality, etc.

I doubt you will change, but my advice is don't have a maid; you are not ready to have employees, clean your own toilet like an adult, read some books for your kid's sake, venture outside your comfort zone, treat others how you would like to be treated and learn something.

[leatherman]

for 3 weeks she touched us, our food and everything in the house and we can rule out saliva contact or what if she had a cut or had a sore or by accident used our toothbrushes as that would make it even more risky for us.

and not a damned bit of that means anything.

UNLESS you had unprotected sex with the maid or you shared drugs with an injection needle, you and your family had NO, ZERO, ZIP risk.

HIV is only transmitted through unprotected sex or injection needle.

There was no risk whatsoever to you and your family, and there is no need to test.

this is scary, why can't people be honest upfront so you can hire the right people for the job.

It is only scary because you didn't understand how HIV is transmitted and assumed a lot of nonsense. Living in your house, touching things, sores, toothbrushes, not on medication, whatever you can imagine, NONE of that is a risk. Only unprotected sex or injection needles are a risk.

[Jim Allen]

Just adding the request to please don't post about this again as I'll consider it excessive and give you a ban from the forums to help you move on with your life.

Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.