Word: saliva
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...AIDS virus, designated HTLV-III/LAV, has been detected in four bodily fluids: semen, blood, saliva and tears. But it has been found in saliva and tears only in small amounts, and not a single case of transmission by those fluids has been documented. Doctors cannot prove that this will never happen, but nearly all known cases involve contact with the semen or blood of an AIDS victim. Quite direct contact too: the virus can live only a very short time outside the human body. It does not linger on doorknobs, clothing, food, dishes, glasses, utensils or toilet seats...
...whether it is present in vaginal secretions is still subject to investigation. Blood or vaginal secretions might enter a man's body through sores or other lesions. It is not certain whether open-mouth kissing can transmit AIDS; given the small concentrations of the virus so far found in saliva, it would seem to be what scientists call an inefficient method of spreading the disease...
...Disease Control, there may actually be an advantage in childhood exposure to herpes. Says he: "Having herpes for the first time as an adult is more serious than having it as a child." Cates points out that herpes almost always spreads through direct contact with a lesion or saliva or other body fluids. Says he: "The risk of transmission in a school setting is negligible...
...virus has been found in the blood, semen and saliva* of AIDS patients and patients with early signs of the disease; the finding is significant, since doctors have long suspected that the disease is spread by the exchange of body fluids, especially through anal intercourse and shared hypodermic needles...
...Though the saliva finding has created something of a scare, experts say there is little chance of spreading the disease by kissing or sneezing...