Ask the Doctor

Hiv infection from eating?

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I want to know if someone can get HIV if the person preparing your food put infected blood on your sandwich or banana and you ate it right away.

Hassan (by email)

You cannot get HIV by eating food with infected blood on it. HIV in the blood does not survive long outside the body. The time the blood would spend in contact with the mucous membranes in the mouth is minimal, if at all, when consumed with food. It is also worth noting, that even if the food contained blood and even if that blood contained the HIV virus, it still would not have direct access to your blood stream. When you eat food, it is mixed with saliva not with your blood stream where it can be transmitted to your body.

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