About J. Symons Expertise questions about T-cell immunity, mutational escape by viruses
HIV infection, immunity, therapy and resistence
HCV infection, immunity, therapy and resistence
Influenza infection, immunity. No questions about transmission or risks, I'm no MD. But a MSc.
Expert: J. Symons Date: 7/5/2008 Subject: HIV transmission
Question QUESTION: hi thank u for ur time. a couple of weeks ago i was at a party with a friend and i took a sip of my friends drink. i ws unaware that her brother who is hiv positive drank from the straw of the same glass. It happened to be hennessy. i have been told that the liqour would have killed whatever may have gotten into the alcahol. i have been feeling very worried since i learned that her brother was infected with the virus. i was also worried because i have a bad wisdom tooth that scrapes against the inside of my mouth. so my question is... is it possible to transmit the virus through sharing a glass. Also i would like to know if the virus could still be infectious or survive in a cup of alcahol. Am i in danger of being infected with HIV?
ANSWER: Dear candyce,
There is no record of HIV transmission through sharing a glass.
HIV doesn't transmit through mucus sharing. Your ABSOLUTLY not at risk.
Good luck
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QUESTION: im really sorry. im sure you have a lot of questions to answer. in your reply to my last question you said that HIV doesnt transmit through mucus sharing. can you elaborate on that a little bit? thankl you so much for your time
Answer Dear Candyce,
HIV virions are found in mucus. Now the thing is that you need a certain concentration of virus particles to catch the disease. This reflects to 8 liters, almost two gallons (I think) of mucus. So this route of transmission is so inefficient that it doesn't work.
