Report: Pre-chewed food may transmit HIV

BOSTON, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said pre-chewing food for infants poses a possible risk of HIV transmission.

Caregivers in some cultures are known to masticate, or pre-chew, food for infants during the weaning period. A report presented at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston said three U.S. cases of HIV transmission to children may be related to the practice.

In the first case, a child in Memphis, Tenn., was found to be infected with HIV at the age of nine months. The child's HIV-infected mother reported chewing the child's food before serving the infant starting at four months. Two cases were also reported in Miami, Fla., one in which the HIV-infected mother fed her child pre-masticated food occasionally and the other in which an HIV-infected aunt helped feed the child.

Researchers said it appears the virus was likely transmitted by blood in the caregivers' saliva. Two of the caregivers reported having bleeding gums.

Dr. Kenneth L. Dominguez of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said transmission of HIV through pre-masticating may be an unrecognized problem in developing countries with poor dental care and limited access to commercially prepared baby foods, The New York Times said.