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AIDS/Bloody spit

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Expert: Gorkey Gourab - 8/28/2009


Question
Dear Dr.

I was in a public area with a big group of people and one of them was eating a lollipop. While the lollipop was in his mouth, his friend frightened him from behind and he bit down on his cheek in fright and spit flew everywhere. A big glob of it landed on my face where I had quite a few thinly scabbed and healing (but not fully healed) pimples. The pimples were not bleeding but there were tiny amounts of dried pus.

I am worried because he bit his cheek and there may have been blood present in his saliva. If the person had HIV, what is my risk of HIV in this situation, and what can I do about it?

Thank you so much for your time.

Answer
Saliva contains very little amount of HIV (viral load) to get one transmitted. So don't worry at all.
Take care.
Pardon me for my late response.
Sincere regards,
Gorkey

Note: I'm not a doctor, I'm working on social and behavioral research on HIV and AIDS.

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Gorkey Gourab

Expertise

Social and behavioral issues related to HIV transmission, sexually transmitted infections, Human Rights issues, rights of marginalized populations, gender and sexuality, research design and analysis related social & behavioral issues, , computer assisted qualitative data analysis and data management (using ATLAS.ti, ANTHROPAC, NVivo 8)

Experience

Specialized in Medical Anthropology. Working on Social and behavioral studies related to HIV transmission as well as Human Rights issues. Specialization in gender, sexuality, masculinity, behavioral studies related to HIV transmission. Qualitative research, programmatic and M&E experience with MSM, hijra (TG), indigenous groups, female sex workers for more than 7 years.

Organizations
International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) as Manager - M&E (Qualitative) with HIV/AIDS Programme at Laboratory Sciences Division

Publications
(1) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., Gourab, G., & Bhuiya, A. (2009). Living on the extreme margin: Social exclusion of the hijra in Bangladesh. Journal of health, population and nutrition. (2) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Gourab, G., Parveen, S., Bhuiyan, M. I., & Sikder, J. (2008). Not to stigmatize but to humanize sexual lives of the transgender (Hijra) in Bangladesh: condom chat in the AIDS era. Journal of LGBT Health Research, 4(2-3), 127-141. (3) Khan, S. I., Pasa, K., Gourab, G., Hasan, A. M. R., Kaukab, S. S. T., & Islam, A. (2007a). Living with risks and vulnerabilities to STIs/HIV: a qualitative assessment of indigenous populations at the northwestern belt in Bangladesh. Paper presented at the ASCON: ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh. From http://www.icddrb.org/images/11thAscon_Orals_Day2.pdf. (4) Gourab, G., Karim, M. S., & Karim, Z. (2004). Religiosity of the santal community. Paper presented at the International Seminar on Anthropology: Chittagong University, Chittagong, Bangladesh. (5) Khan, S. I., Gourab, G., Sarker, G. F., Ghosh, S., & Khondokar, S. I. (2008a). Mapping geographical and service delivery gaps and estimating size of street, hotel and residence based female sex workers in Bangladesh (draft report). Dhaka: ICDDR,B & Save the Children USA. (6) Khan, S. I., Gourab, G. et al. (2008b). Understanding the operational dynamics and possible HIV interventions for residence-based female sex workers in two divisional cities in Bangladesh (draft report). Dhaka: ICDDR,B & Save the Children USA. (7) Khan, S. I., Gourab, G. et al. (2007b). Understanding the context of risks and vulnerabilities to STI/HIV and sexual health: an anthropological assessment of the indigenous community of northwestern belt of Bangladesh. Dhaka: ICDDR,B. (8) Khan, S. I., Parveen, S., Hussain, M. I., Bhuiyan, M. I., & Gourab, G. (2007c). Socialization and sexuality constructions of hijra: implications for STIs/HIV intervention. Dhaka: ICDDR,B.

Education/Credentials
(1) Post graduate in Anthropology, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh (2) Training on HIV-AIDS related qualitative data analysis and manuscript writing, Center for Global Health, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

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