HIV Myth Debunked: Boy Gets HIV After Eating Pineapples Cut By Infected Vendor

 

I'm sure the story of the boy who got infected with HIV after eating cut pineapples from a street vendor reached you. While it isn't usually a good idea to buy such cut fruits on the road because of sanitary reasons, that story was untrue. You can't get HIV that way, if they had said Ebola, totally possible but HIV, no way! Find out why after the cut.

As shared on Facebook, March 11, 2014:

A 10 year old boy, had eaten pineapple about 15 days back, and fell sick, from the day he had eaten. Later when he had his Health check done...... doctors diagnosed that he had AIDS. His parents couldn't believe it...Then the entire family under went a checkup... none of them suffered from Aids. So the doctors checked again with the boy if he had eaten out.....The boy said 'Yes'. He had pineapple that evening. Immediately a group from the hospital went to the pineapple vendor to check. They found the pineapple seller had a cut on his finger while cutting the pineapple; his blood had spread into the fruit. When they had his blood checked...the guy was suffering from AIDS...but he himself was NOT aware. Unfortunately the boy is now suffering from it. Please take care while u eat on the road side and pls forward this message to your dear one's.. Take Care Please Forward This message To All The Persons You Know As Your Message May Save One's Life !!!!!

Analysis: These scary viral alerts are based on a common myth about HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), namely that it can be spread via contaminated food or drink.

HIV is destroyed by exposure to air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid. In short, AIDS is not a food-borne illness. Not so, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The virus can't survive long outside the human body, so you can't catch AIDS by eating food handled by an infected person — "even if the food contained small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen," says the CDC.

Even if it were a food-borne illness, there would still be cause for skepticism about this story. It's claimed that the 10-year-old patient in the story "fell sick" with AIDS just 15 days after consuming pineapple tainted by the blood of an HIV-positive vendor. It normally takes months or years for AIDS symptoms to appear.

The list of foods and beverages supposedly contaminated by HIV-infected workers keeps growing, regardless. To date, the list includes: ketchup, tomato sauce, Pepsi-Cola, Frooti drinks, and take-out shawarmas.

Though all these warnings are fictional and there's no real danger of getting AIDS by consuming these products, it's still probably a good idea to be careful in general what you eat from roadside stands.

It's an equally good idea to be careful what you believe on the Internet, particularly social media broadcasts.

Via Urbanlegends.com

Cover image via Inhouserecipes.com