A REPORT CIRCULATED via WhatsApp that a ten-year-old Barbadian boy had contracted HIV after eating pineapple purchased from an infected vendor, was dismissed as untrue by the Ministry of Health last Friday.
In a release, Senior Medical Officer Dr Anton Best stressed: “It is virtually impossible for the blood of an infected person to contaminate food, and place someone at risk for HIV. It is highly unlikely for HIV to be transmitted via ingestion of any food item.”
Dr Best urged Barbadians to educate themselves about HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, how they could be contracted, how to protect themselves from becoming infected and the treatment services available.
The need for better education was pointed out by one online reader while others said they simply dismissed the story.
Antonio Cozier: I knew that was fake news.
Richelle Nurse: This just proves that we need to better educate the public about HIV and other STDs; they obviously weren’t paying attention in health class.
Veronica Straker: Any sensible person would have known it was a lie.
Ione Mitchell: Of course, it is untrue. I was sent two versions of the same message – exact story; but one set in India, the other, Barbados.
Toni Beckles: This is what happens when people have too much idle time on their hands. They concoct stories which are the passed on by either unsuspecting persons or persons who love to spread a good “tale”.
Rosy Blackman: Someone sent me it and I blocked and deleted [it] forthwith. I couldn’t believe that someone in my contact list could have been so ignorant!
Kerry Waldron: Common sense should have shown persons that story didn’t make sense.
Olutoye Walrond: Anyone who knows about HIV would be aware that: 1. the virus is extremely vulnerable outside of the human body. It will not survive for more than a couple minutes – or is it seconds? – if so long. 2. Ingesting the virus is as safe as eating a mango; the stomach acids will kill it immediately. 3. Nobody gets sick immediately after contracting HIV.
John Da Silva: Got some really dumb people out there. You need to check everything you read online, as a lot of it is totally false.
Peter R. Rock: I heard about that story about two years ago but it was not Barbados, it was from Africa.
David E. Hall: The story was not only a repeat of one supposedly from Africa some years ago, but it was so absurd, that I wondered why persons bothered to share it.
Nosaj Rellim: The fact that this had to be addressed is sad. People are so damn gullible it’s ridiculous!
• Sherrylyn Toppin is The Nation’s Online Editor.
