Hi there,

I’m sorry someone spit in your eye, that sounds quite distressing. I can reassure you that chance of getting HIV this way is extremely low – in fact, probably no risk at all. We do not think HIV survives in saliva or in the mouth. Even if he had blood in his mouth, we know that HIV dies within seconds of contact with air. We do not know of anyone getting HIV from having someone spit in their eye. We would not consider this incident a risk for HIV. HIV can be spread through unprotected vaginal or anal sex, direct blood-to-blood contact, and from mothers with HIV to their babies. 

Many people are bothered by thoughts and worries about HIV. If find that you can’t stop worrying about HIV, it might help to read our page on worry.

Hope that helps,

Health Nurse