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What Are The Chances Of Contracting HIV Infection Through Spit?

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Posted on Wed, 22 Jul 2015
Question: hdear doctor my 9years old son got injured while playing with a hiv positive kid 2months back the nature of injury was cause by atoygun plasticpelllet which hit the hiv positive kid on the hiv dorsum of his right hand causing an indentation of his skin along with skin tear and ooze the plasticpelllet then bounch off him and hit my son on his neck causing an abrasion I don't know whether there was any bleeding from my son 8hrs latter when I saw it there was a scab present which came off on its own on 5th day my son was started on pep 20hrs latter and took it for a 28days post pep on 6th day a mouth ulcer was present took a week to resolve without treatment and on 12th day developed fever for 4days the first 2days its was high grade on 3rd week into pep a hivdnaper was done which came back undetected please kindly help me tell what is his risk and conclusively of the test
doctor
Answered by Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain (31 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
The chances of getting HIV infection is very very negligible

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thanks for the query

I can understand your concern.As you have started early postexposure prophylaxis and HIV DNA test done was negative the chances of getting HIV infection in your child is almost negligible.
The HIV DNA test has a very high sensitivity and specificity(95-100%) for ealy detection of HIV infection.I won't get worried if it is negative.
Although fever(acute retroviral syndrome) can present after 2-3 weeks of getting exposure,but here the fever is usually associated with sore throat & other flu symptoms like cough,cold rashes,muscle ache and this flu symptom is often described as "worst flu symptoms"not just simple fever as in your child's case.

So I suggest you not to worry and get antibody and CD4 count done later on(although it may not be needed)to alleviate your anxiety and to rule out any remote possibility.

I hope this helps.
Please do ask if you have any more query.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Pradeep Kumar Jain

Pediatrician, Cardiology

Practicing since :2006

Answered : 2074 Questions

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What Are The Chances Of Contracting HIV Infection Through Spit?

Brief Answer: The chances of getting HIV infection is very very negligible Detailed Answer: Hello Thanks for the query I can understand your concern.As you have started early postexposure prophylaxis and HIV DNA test done was negative the chances of getting HIV infection in your child is almost negligible. The HIV DNA test has a very high sensitivity and specificity(95-100%) for ealy detection of HIV infection.I won't get worried if it is negative. Although fever(acute retroviral syndrome) can present after 2-3 weeks of getting exposure,but here the fever is usually associated with sore throat & other flu symptoms like cough,cold rashes,muscle ache and this flu symptom is often described as "worst flu symptoms"not just simple fever as in your child's case. So I suggest you not to worry and get antibody and CD4 count done later on(although it may not be needed)to alleviate your anxiety and to rule out any remote possibility. I hope this helps. Please do ask if you have any more query. Regards