Can HIV Be Transmitted Through Casual Contact?

Posted on Fri, 10 Feb 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 Answered on

Mon, 6 Mar 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : I am feeling some hiv symptoms flr almlat one month.Each morning i am feeling something different.My uncle was dignosed with aids on 29 th of nov 2016.i started feeling some symptoma on 16th XXXXXXX 2017.i got tested on 4 th feb 2017 with CMIA.and came neagtive.is there anything to worry.

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
No need to worry.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone through your query and understand your apprehensions about your uncle. However, feeling not-right does not mean that you have HIV. If you had HIV, the test results would have indicated. Since the results are negative you need not worry.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (8 hours later)

Dear sir i wanna add some details that i am taking care of my uncle since he diagnosed with AIDS on 29 th nov 2016.But on 13th XXXXXXX 2017 i felt some cold.No fever no coughing no sneezing but only nasal congestion.Day by day i felt some more symptoms like HIV.My muscle & joint pains but not painful exactly but i feel that very minutely.I felt my tonsil enlarged on 2nd Feb 2017.Till now my XXXXXXX congestion continues.No rash ,No swollen glands anywhere in body.But some times i feel some minute pain.I went for HIV CMIA HIV 1/2 & P24 antigen combo test on 4th of Feb 2017 which came negative.I went for All Heart related test And everything found normal.One more thing i want to add I feel night sweating many nights these days.But fortunately no appetite loss or significant weight loss happened.Is ther anything to worry. What about night sweating & persistent nasal congestion.Gradually i started sweating also during day time.

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
HIV does not spread like that

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back and for providing the details. You would need to know how HIV spreads. Surely enough you did not have sex with your uncle and neither is there any way that his blood could have mixed with yours. Unless any of those has occurred, you would not get HIV from him. I understand that you are afraid of getting HIV and that is normal. But you also need to understand that there are certain modes of transmission. For example, you do not get cough and cold from the food you eat and you do not get diarrhea from people sneezing around you. Similarly, you do not get HIV by caring for people with HIV. Your blood tests just confirm the same. I would insist you to stop worrying.

Now about the symptoms. HIV does not cause any symptoms. There is nothing called HIV symptoms. HIV depresses the immunity and the infected person becomes vulnerable to various sorts of infections and gets symptoms like that. The most common are simple viral infections that we see around us every now and then. You possibly have some such infection. But that does not mean that you have HIV. Your apprehension and panic is making the things appear more severe.

I would insist you to see a psychologist. He would be able to give you some simple tips that will help you to relax. Mention to him about the possibility of somatization disorders wherein the hidden fears seem to come to reality and the affected person finds the apprehensions to come to life. About the medical part, I assure you that there is nothing to worry about.

Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar