Not the Norm

[skwekahz]

I am a 24 year old mother. My daughter is 9 months old. And my concern is not for myself, but for her. One of my old friends and i had a falling out years ago and have buried the hatchet and started talking and hanging out again in the past few weeks. She had told me a long time ago that her now husband had tested positive for HIV while in prison. Now they have an almost 2 year old son together. I and my mother both asked her about his health and we were told that he nor she or her husband had HIV- that it must have been a mix up with paper work or something. I realize that the classic exposure risk should be low, but kids do get hurt, and kids naturally want to help. My fear is that if by some chance I am being lied to, that I may be endangering my child. How common is a mis diagnosis of HIV? If the husband is positive is it possible that she could have gotten pregnant, but not the HIV? Would their child have it? And should i be worried about this situation? The falling out was infact over her dishonesty to me about him, it was the first and only time I have ever caught her in a lie to me,  but who is to say it was the last? I know that it is not easily transmitted through everyday contact. And as long as simple precautions are taken I will be fine, but even children of the most atentive parents get broken arms... if I permit our children to play together, is that the worst that mine may end up with???

[joggen]

You have nothing to be concerned about, for multiple reasons.

First, even if your friend's husband has it, it doesn't necessarily mean that she does. It is definitely possible that your friend became pregnant without catching HIV.

Second, your friend would have been tested for HIV routinely during the course of her pregnancy. In the event she tested positive she would have been put on antivirals to reduce the risk of mother to child transmission. Thus, it is unlikely your friend's playmate even has HIV. Another way to look at this- there were only 139 HIV/AIDS cases in children resulting from perinatal exposure in 2007, out of tens of millions of children.

Third and perhaps most importantly, transmission between children has never been shown to occur, even though kids often get into fights/scraps that result in open wounds. As you stated, the virus doesn't spread by casual contact- it requires direct inoculation inside the body for transmission to occur.

When all of this is factored in, the chance that your daughter could catch HIV from this boy is effectively zero.

My advice- turn your attention to more realistic concerns, such as the upcoming flu season, and forget about HIV.

[erinpea]

HIV is not spread through casual contact , this is no cause for concern and there is no need to worry. best wishes erin