Food and Water Safety With HIV

Food- and water-borne illnesses can be significant problems for HIV-positive people whose immune systems can no longer fight off the ordinary germs we encounter in our daily lives. Whether brief or chronic, some of these common diseases can be fatal, through organ compromise, poor intestinal absorption of the nutrition in food, or diarrhea.

The federal Dept. of Health and Human Services has an informative booklet called “Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” a critical “bible” for people with AIDS. Some suggestions, especially for the summer months and for travel: 1) Don’t eat raw or undercooked meat. Order hamburgers at least medium well. 2) Chill leftovers as soon as possible. Don’t keep them more than 3-4 days. 3) Reheat leftovers to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit; bring leftover soup or gravy to a boil. 4) Don’t eat anything with raw or partially cooked eggs. 5) Avoid raw shellfish like oysters! 6) Keep hot foods above 140 degrees and cold foods below 40 degrees. Bacteria grow most easily at temperatures in between. 7) If you can’t use food within a couple of days, especially meat, freeze it. 8) Wash your hands (and all utensils and counters) thoroughly after touching uncooked foods. 9) Be cautious about deli foods and soft cheese. Those are common sources of Listeriosis. 10) Don’t swallow lake or river water while swimming! Germs like Cryptosporidia are readily found in our Central Texas surface waters. 11) Some PWAs drink only bottled water to reduce their risk.

“Knowledge of safe food- and water-handling techniques is essential for persons living with HIV/AIDS [and] their caretakers … to prevent potentially life-threatening infections,” an article concluded in the April issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Even with today’s improved ability of controlling HIV itself, the need to protect oneself against the environment’s everyday pathogens hasn’t disappeared.

For details, please see the complete guidelines at DHHS’ Web site, www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines.

Sandy Bartlett

Community Education Coordinator, AIDS Services of Austin

This article appears in July 18 • 2003.

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