Pre-chewing Food for Children Can Spread HIV

Scientists have reported for the first time that the AIDS virus can be spread by mothers who pre-chew food for their children. This practice is mainly seen in poor, developing countries.

Three such cases have been reported in the United States between the years 1993-2004. In at least two of the cases the virus was spread by blood, not saliva. The infected mothers had bleeding gums or mouth sores according to investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC officials say they need to conduct more studies, but warns caregivers not to pre-chew food for infants if they are infected with HIV or AIDS. Health officials believe that pre-chewing food is rare in the United States and is mainly seen in developing countries when mothers do not have access to baby food for infants without teeth.

"But even one case is too many," said the CDC's Dr. Ken Dominguez, who helped investigate the U.S. cases.

The first case in 1993 involved a 15-month-old African-American boy in Miami, FL. His great-aunt pre-chewed his food for him when he was between 9 months and 14 months leading to his infection with the disease. Later, a 3-year-old Caribbean-American boy was diagnosed in 1995. Also located in Miami, FL, he was infected when his mother pre-chewed his food for him. The third case was of a 9-month-old African-American girl was diagnosed with HIV in Memphis in 2004. Her mother began pre-chewing her food when she only four months old. Doctors still want more evidence to be sure that they have definitely connected this practice to the spread of HIV. All three children were infected with HIV about the time they would have been teething and had inflamed gums; the child and the caregiver both have to have mouth sores in order for the infection to spread.

"This would really take a lot of thinking before you could say, 'We've had three cases in 11 years, so you have to stop pre-chewing your child's food,'" Hagen said.