Saliva AIDS

We often hear some words about AIDS patients in our daily life. Although there is currently no clear treatment for AIDS, it does not mean that this disease can be contracted casually. Certain specific conditions are required to complete this transmission process, so we need to supplement this deficiency from a scientific perspective to avoid harming AIDS patients.

We should know that AIDS is transmitted through sexual transmission and blood transmission. So is it true that saliva can be transmitted? We can safely deny this because saliva is killed by oxygen when it travels in the air. However, from a medical perspective, we can monitor viruses in saliva.

AIDS cannot be transmitted through saliva, but it can be tested through saliva. HIV is mainly transmitted through antigens and detected through antibodies. HIV antibodies can be detected in the urine, saliva, tears, semen and vaginal secretions of HIV-infected people. The saliva rapid test reagent uses artificial synthetic protein as antigen to quickly and qualitatively detect HIV1/2 antibodies in saliva. Because saliva does not transmit HIV, the test is non-invasive and does not involve blood (the amount of HIV in the blood is high, so the risk of HIV transmission is extremely high), there is no problem of "infection". It can also avoid the risk of infection for testers or medical staff, the risk of occupational exposure for samplers, and the risk of infection from medical waste.

The commonly used rapid detection reagents are prepared based on the principle of solid phase immunoassay using colloidal gold or selenium as markers and nitrocellulose membrane as a carrier in the form of chromatography.

Saliva does contain HIV, but there are prerequisites for saliva to transmit HIV. For example, sneezing, eating together, etc. will not transmit HIV. However, if there are oral ulcers accompanied by bleeding, and if there is deep contact such as deep kissing, it is possible to be infected with HIV. Experts explained that HIV can indeed be detected in saliva, but the amount of virus in it is very small. HIV virus must reach a certain amount to cause transmission. Someone has calculated that if you want the virus in saliva to reach an infectious dose, you would have to swallow more than 20 ml of saliva from an infected person at one time. Saliva does not transmit HIV for the following reasons:

The number of infectious particles is very low: HIV virus can usually be detected in the saliva of less than 1-5% of HIV-infected people. Inhibitory effect of human saliva on the virus particles themselves: Saliva contains several natural inhibitors of HIV, including thrombospondin and mucin, which inactivate the virus and aggregate it into insoluble, non-infectious large complexes. Saliva contains secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), which can block HIV infection by interacting with cell receptor molecules that prevent viral invasion. Hypotonicity of saliva: destroys infected monocytes, prevents viral replication, prevents the spread of HIV between cells, prevents its attachment to epithelial cells and the generation of infectious HIV. Severe oral bleeding due to dental treatment was not associated with an increased incidence of detectable infectious virus, confirming that oral fluid is safe as a testing medium, even in individuals with blood in their saliva.

I believe that after a more detailed understanding of saliva in this article, we can all rest assured that saliva will not be transmitted under normal circumstances. Therefore, it is impossible for normal shared meals to cause the spread of disease. If this type of patient is found, he or she should go to the hospital for treatment in time.