[Question #8659] Actively bleeding mouth

41 months ago

Hi there. Today I was out for breakfast. I ordered avocado toast so not a hot meal that would clearly kill any living thing. Whilst I was eating I bit my cheek and it started bleeding, I ate about half the rest of my food while it was bleeding and then went and rinsed my mouth with some water. The bleeding stopped after about 5-10 mins

If there was any slight amount of hiv + blood in the meal I ate from one of the chefs cutting themselves (happens a lot I work in hospitality)

Is there any risk to me considering I had a legitimate bleeding cut? I seriously wouldn’t bother asking if my mouth wasn’t bleeding but it’s bugging me quite a bit

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

41 months ago

Welcome to the forum.

This was a zero risk event in regard to HIV. If you think about it, during the 40 years of the known HIV/AIDS epidemic, there must have been billions of events around the world in which people ate food while they had bleeding wounds or similar problems in the mouth -- and no known HIV transmission as a result. It has been known since the earliest years of HIV/AIDS that non-intimate contact is never risky. Be monogamous with a committed partner, use condoms otherwise, and do not share drug injection equipment with other people -- and you will never get HIV. Nobody has ever been known to catch the virus through contaminated food: it doesn't happen.

So no worries at all. Do your best to move on without giving this event another thought. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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41 months ago

Thanks so much for the clarity on this. Can I confirm the reason this is zero risk is because it just instantly dies when outside the body? Regardless of viral load amount etc?

Thanks so much for your answer in advance

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

41 months ago

It's not that HIV dies instantly; it does not. But HIV transmission requires large exposures. If you can't see obvious blood in what you're eating, then almost certainly there's not enough for an HIV infection to be transmitted. And what are the odds that a) someone with HIV prepared the food and b) s/he had a cut or was otherwise bleeding at the time, and c) dripped it into the food? Obviously these are microscopically small odds. But I would say the biological reasons don't matter: if HIV has never been known to be transmitted in this way, who cares? Really, don't worry about this.---
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41 months ago

Thanks for your response. So even though you’re saying it doesn’t die instantly when outside of a person which I always see conflicting advise for. (Some say immediately others suggest hours) you’re implying there wouldn’t have been of it in the food I ate regardless of me having been bleeding whilst I ate it for it to pose a risk

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

41 months ago

Once again I was already logged in to the forum when these comments arrived. Most users should not expect nearly real-time replies!

Nobody can say exactly how long HIV may survive in food -- but it's probably for hours or days in any moist environment. But as I said, it doesn't matter. Whether HIV survives or not, it never causes infection in this manner.

Just think logically. In the 40 years of the worldwide HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is obvious that millions of people with sores in their mouths must have eaten food prepared by HIV infected friends, family members, or restaurant workers. And not one case of HIV transmission among them has ever been known of even suspected. You're at no risk of HIV from this event or anything like it. Enjoy sex safely and don't use IV drugs (or if you do, never share needles). That's all you need to do in order to live a life free of HIV.

That completes the two follow-up exchanges included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful, and that you'll understand and believe my reasoned, science-based judgment and advice. Best wishes to you.

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