Pets and animals

Pets and animals do not involve any special health concerns if you have a CD4 cell count of 200 or above.

Some doctors warn that diseases such as toxoplasmosis, which can have very serious health implications for people whose immune systems are damaged, could be acquired from cats, birds or dogs. Others would agree that though this is true in theory, in practice, if you have owned your pet for a while, there may be no extra risk to you. This is because of the nature of opportunistic infections. Most of them involve the activation or reactivation of micro-organisms which entered the body in the past. On that basis, if you have had a particular pet for a while, you are unlikely to be at risk of catching anything new from it.

There is also evidence to suggest that the risk of acquiring such infections from animals is, in reality, low. One study has reported that people with HIV who owned cats were no more likely to develop toxoplasmosis during their illness than those who did not own cats. Changing cat litter on a daily basis will reduce the risk of toxoplasmosis. Clean the litter tray using rubber gloves, hot water and strong disinfectants.

Cats can also harbour the bacterial infection Bartonella (also known as `cat scratch' disease). Try not to let your cat lick open cuts, and try to ensure that it doesn’t get fleas, as all of these can transmit Bartonella. Always wash your hands between touching pets and handling food.

Exposure to potentially harmful organisms can also occur when working with animals or gardening. For example, cleaning chicken coops or cleaning up pigeon droppings could expose HIV-positive people to infections, as could gardening without gloves.

If your job could lead to you coming into contact with potentially dangerous infections, then you should discuss this with your doctor and the occupational health department at your work.