JOSEPH.ANDREWS@stjhmc.fidonet.org (JOSEPH ANDREWS) (10/01/90)
I am very confused - have a friend who has been HIV+ whom I shall be visiting
again - we are close - does deep kissing with him pose a risk
of contraction of HIV ? I have read conflicting opinions on oral contact -
mouth to mouth - its implications in this context.
Would appreciate comment, elucidation...
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Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!JOSEPH.ANDREWS
Internet: JOSEPH.ANDREWS@stjhmc.fidonet.orgnews@CS.UCLA.EDU (Mr. News) (10/03/90)
JOSEPH.ANDREWS@stjhmc.fidonet.org Date: Tue, 2 Oct 90 17:53:05 PDT In article <39596@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> you write: =>I am very confused - have a friend who has been HIV+ whom I shall be visiting =>again - we are close - does deep kissing with him pose a risk =>of contraction of HIV ? I have read conflicting opinions on oral contact - =>mouth to mouth - its implications in this context. =>Would appreciate comment, elucidation... => =>-- =>Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!JOSEPH.ANDREWS =>Internet: JOSEPH.ANDREWS@stjhmc.fidonet.org In answer to your question on AIDS viability I am enclosing the following that I either got of the net or was mailed. It dovetails with much of what I read on the subject and I will leave it to you to decide what the veracity of the information and its implications. Charles ----------Include-------------------------------v----------- The CDC, several books, and some AIDS information phone information lines claim that the virus is inactivated within 'a few seconds' or 'a couple of minutes' when it is expelled from the body. They point to research done on families where there were negligable outside risk factors where some of the family members shared toothbrushes or other utensils. On the other hand two books, one information line, and two of the medical professionals we spoke to contend that this is not the case. These people say that it can survive for between twenty minutes, and 14+ DAYS outside of the human host. They point to an article in JAMA from 1985, a study by the Pasteur Institute, and cases of hemopheliacs being given freeze dried, (later re-hydrated), blood products who came down with an HIV positive result. If one accepts the theory that the virus can indeed live outside of the body, then one must ask the followup question of how likely it might be for a person who comes into contact with the virus to become infected. This might happen in many ways including touching an object that has HIV virii on it with a cut hand/extremety, rubbing ones eyes or picking ones teeth with virii picked up on the hands, or accidental genital contact with a toilet bowl. JArticle 975 (1 more) in sci.med.aids (moderated): From: matt@BRL.MIL -- Matt Rosenblatt (matt@amsaa-seer.brl.mil) Subject: [4mRe: HIV life expectency outside the body[m Message-ID: <22919@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Date: 12 Apr 89 20:38:41 GMT References: <22617@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> Reply-To: matt@brl.arpa (Matthew Rosenblatt (AMSAA|jerry) <matt>) Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD. Lines: 108 Archive-number: 679 In article <22617@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> C94882SM@WUVMD (Steve Middlebrook) writes: >I work on a local AIDS hotline and I have been asked the following question >several times. I haven't been able to find any written material that >specifically answers it. Could someone point me in the right direction. >The question is: How long can the virus live outside of the body? >Is it even a the right question? Is it likely that the virus is going to >be anywhere where it is not surrounded by body tissue or fluids, except >maybe in a lab? >Often the caller's concerns are "hysterical" fears about AIDS on >doorknobs etc. Sometimes though, someone is legitimately worried about a >drop of HIV infected blood or semen on some object. What is the time >frame involved here? Will the blood outlive the HIV, vice versa, or will >they "die" together? [S. MIDDLEBROOK] Maybe the caller's "hysterical" fears came from reading Gene Antonio's book, _The AIDS Coverup?_. In his scare book, which came out a couple of years ago, Gene Antonio gave a couple of medical journal citations which could serve as a start to "point [Steve] in the right direction." The September 28, 1985 issue of the British medical journal _Lancet_ contained a study by a team of French researchers from the Viral Oncology Unit at the Pasteur Institute revealing that the AIDS virus can remain infectious outside the body for up to ten days: LAV/HTLV-III, the agent causing AIDS, has been isolated from body fluids (blood, semen, saliva, tears). Its isolation in saliva prompted us to investigate the possibility of transmission by saliva, and we have studied the sensitivity of LAV/HTLV-III at room temperature. . . . The virus used for the infectivity assay . . . was left at room temperature for 0, 2, 4, or 7 days in a sealed tube or allowed to dry in a petri dish. After the times indicated in the figure the virus was used to infect stimulated T lymphocytes and viral production was determined in cell-free supernatant by testing for the reverse transcriptase activity twice a week. [The data] shows the unusual stability of HTLV-III at room temperature. No signifi- cant difference was found between 0, 2, or 4 days. Only a slight decrease is noted with a delay in the virus production indicating a loos of a few infectious particles after 7 days at room temperature. Two petri dishes containing 25,000 cpm equivalent reverse transcriptase of dry virus were kept at room temperature for 4 or 7 days and then re- suspended in 0.220 ml water and used to measure the infectivity. As [the data show], significant numbers of viral particles are then inactivated, -- Uucp: ...{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!asuvax!stjhmc!UUCP Internet: UUCP@stjhmc.fidonet.org
marco@ozdaltx.UUCP (Steve Giammarco) (10/04/90)
In article <39596@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU>, JOSEPH.ANDREWS@stjhmc.fidonet.org (JOSEPH ANDREWS) writes: > I am very confused - have a friend who has been HIV+ whom I shall be visiting > again - we are close - does deep kissing with him pose a risk > of contraction of HIV ? I have read conflicting opinions on oral contact - > mouth to mouth - its implications in this context. > Would appreciate comment, elucidation... Stop worrying about HIV infection w/regard to kissing. Although theoretically possible, 11 years of studies have yet to prove deep kissing as a transmission vector. (I assume y'all don't have braces or have unusually VIGOROUS tongue lashings that might abrade or puncture the cheeks or gums. :-) However, *SOME* folks with noticeably impaired immune systems (less than 200 T4 or CD-4 cells [approximate}) sometimes have flare-ups of other conditions/diseases that *could* be contagious via saliva. Hepatitis, mononeucleosis, herpes, tuberculosis (especially if he's from the SOUTH, like Texas, etc...), and probably a host of other viral/bacteria- borne creatures. Giammarco's Rule of Thumb: If they're *noticeably* ill, a sincere hug and a light peck on the lips/cheek might save you both a flurry of worry. Not very scientific, but, asking for a laundry list of infections isn't very conducive to warm conversation, either... -- Steve Giammarco 5330 Peterson Ln #1211 Dallas TX 75240 214.788.0976 AIDS Resource Center 4012 Cedar Springs Rd Dallas TX 75219 214.521.5124 X.400(C:USA A:Western Union N:Steve Giammarco D:ELN-62847823) Easylink:62847823 {mic,void,egsner}!ozdaltx!marco