As Halloween Approaches Let's Talk About Vampires and HIV
Tuesday October 14, 2008
This is going to sound a bit crazy but I was watching television a couple nights ago and stumbled upon a vampire movie. Like all good Hollywood vampires, they were sucking the necks of just about anyone. That made me think...would ingesting blood be risky? And while I researched this I came across information on vampire cults...and wouldn't you know...some of those cults drink blood. So what is their HIV risk?
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High, I would say. Any human blood taken by mouth comes into contact with the mucous membranes in the mouth. If there is even a tiny break in those membranes–like if you bite your tongue, or your gums are abraded after brushing your teeth–those tiny breaks are super-highways for HIV to get to the bloodstream.
I think they would be just as high a risk as unprotected sex…HIV is spread by infected blood/body fluids being entered into another body, right?!