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Question
Hi!
I have two questions for you. I am still breast feeding my baby so i am scared of possibility of infecting him.
First, is it possible to get HIV if i managed to puncture my hand on the plant with very sharp leaf edge, it is like a sewing needle. The place was crowded with people, and i saw a lot of people brushing against that plant, so if a HIV+ person also punctured himself few seconds before me, can i get infected?
Everybody told me that i am crazy even for thinking something like that , but now, two week later i have a canker sore in my mouth ( never had it before ) and i am really scared it could be due to low immunity after HIV infection.
Second, is it possible to get HIV in swimming pool, it was whirlpool with heated sea water, and my baby managed to scratched himself and me, very deep, we were bleeding. If somebody else who is HIV+ was also bleeding in that pool, can we get infected?
Should i stop breast feed him? I continued to breast feed because i have read that neither of this situations isn't a way you can get infected. What should i do?
Hello Lydia,
Welcome to AllExperts.
Answer to your first question:
No. HIV must enter one's bloodstream to infect him/her. So, the risk of HIV transmission in this context is essentially zero.
Answer to your second question:
No. HIV cannot live in a swimming pool. There have been no cases of HIV transmission this way. HIV is a very fragile virus outside human body and it cannot be transmitted through casual contact or sharing everyday materials people can share swimming pools as well).Water in swimming pools heavily chlorinated. Most of the transmittable agents get destroyed by the chlorine content of the water (including HIV). Also, there have been no cases of HIV transmission through swimming pools Also, it can’t be transmitted from floors. If not chlorinated, the viral load (in easy words, the amount of virus needed to infect someone) will be too low to infect someone.
So, for the contexts you have mentioned, there is no risk of HIV transmission. So, nothing to worry about. Relax and say hi to your baby.
Sincere regards,
Gorkey
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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 Center for HIV and AIDS
Publications
International peer-reviewed journals & technical papers: (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): condom chat in the AIDS era. Journal of LGBT Health Research (Special issue: issues on male sexual behaviors and HIV risk in South Asia). Working papers: (1) Khan, S. I., Gourab, G., Ahmed, T., Sarker, G. F., Chowdhury, F. K., Ghosh, S., et al. (2009). Understanding the operational dynamics and possible HIV interventions for residence-based female sex workers in two divisional cities in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh: NASP, Save the Children USA and icddr,b. Presentations in scientific meetings and conferences: (1) Khan, S. I., Hussain, M. I., Gourab, G. & Azim, T. (2011, 16 March 2011). Use of a new approach to count and access diverse groups of hijra for scaling up HIV-preventions services in Bangladesh. Poster presented at the 13th Annual Scientific Conference (ASCON XIII), Dhaka. (2) Khan, S. I., Pasa, K., Gourab, G., & Islam, A. (2007). Indigenous populations of Bangladesh: Living with risks and vulnerabilities to STIs/HIV. 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP). Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Education/Credentials
MSS (Anthropology), University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Awards and Honors
The Vanderbilt-UAB Fogarty International Center AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP)Scholarship for the training on HIV-AIDS related qualitative data analysis and manuscript writing (Center for Global Health, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA)
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