| While HIV has been found in saliva and tears in very low quantities from some AIDS patients, it is important to understand that finding a small amount of HIV in a body fluid does not necessarily mean that HIV can be transmitted by that body fluid. HIV has not been recovered from the sweat of HIV-infected persons. Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV. Read more at the Center for Disease Control. |
Inmate’s HIV results needed in case versus man who spit on officer during attack, prosecutors say.
By David Weiss
The Times Leader
N.Y. correctional officers draw the line at spit
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A judge has ordered state prison officials to release all medical records regarding an inmate’s HIV-related testing.
The judge made the ruling at the request of Luzerne County prosecutors. They say the inmate, Shawn Quinnones, was infected with HIV, hepatitis B or another infectious disease when he spit on a CO’s face in 2006.
Prosecutors say they need the test results to show Quinnones knew he was infected with a disease when he spat on the CO.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. last week approved the request.
Quinnones, 38, and Anthony Gray, 26, are awaiting trial on assault and harassment charges.
State police said the two were inmates at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas in October 2006 when corrections officer Ralph Laiuvara was escorting Gray to another area of the prison.
Gray was placed in a cell, but he became upset because he was not in the same cell as Quinnones.
Gray then spit on Laiuvara’s face, police said.
So did Quinnones, police said.
Court papers say prosecutors and state Trooper John Yencha have “reason to believe, based upon credible information,” that Quinnones, at the time of the incident, was infected with one of the diseases.
Prosecutors, in their request for Quinnones’ records, said they need to show that Quinnones knew he was infected in order to prove certain elements of the charges.
Quinnones’ attorney, Brian Corcoran, said the information is vital to the case because a state law says if someone has an HIV-related disease and they attack someone, it could result in an increased sentence.
After a hearing Wednesday, Olszewski approved the request.
He said state prison officials must disclose records and documents containing the results of medical tests Quinnones underwent for HIV and hepatitis and any records showing he was advised “of his status as a person who is infected with any infectious or communicable disease.”
Laiuvara was tested after the incident. It was determined he was not infected with any of the diseases.
Both suspects remain jailed.
Copyright 2008 The Times Leader
| HEP C & SALIVA: As the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States, the concentration of Hepatitis C virus in a drop of infected blood is exponentially higher than the concentration of HIV in a drop of infected blood. This explains why it is important to avoid anything that could possibly be tainted with any amount of blood. While not normally found in urine, semen, feces or saliva, injury or illness may cause some of these substances to be contaminated with blood. For more information, please visit Hepatitis C Information Central. |