Nearly 4 out of 10 parents with HIV infection avoid casual contact such as hugging, kissing or sharing utensils with their children out of fear of infection, according to the results of a new study.

Some parents said they were afraid of transmitting HIV to their children or catching an opportunistic infection from contact with their children. The parents were more likely to avoid contact because they were afraid of transmitting HIV than because they feared catching something from their kids.

Lead author Dr. Mark A. Schuster of the University of California, Los Angeles, cautioned that parents’ fears of transmitting HIV through casual contact are unfounded. “There are no cases that we’ve ever heard of parents transmitting HIV to a child through casual contact,” he told Reuters Health. “There’s no reason for parents to withhold their affection.”

Parents who hesitate to hug or kiss their children may only be “diminishing their relationship” with their children, Schuster noted. This is particularly important if parents cut back on affection after being diagnosed with HIV, he added - since children tend to blame themselves for things that happen at home, they may fear they did something wrong.

Many American children live with an HIV-infected parent, Schuster and his colleagues report in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Right now, 28 percent of the people being treated for HIV infection in the U.S. have children younger than 18 years old, and most HIV-positive mothers live with their children.

Despite public health messages about what can and cannot transmit HIV, many people remain confused, the authors add. For instance, a recent survey showed that more than one third of adults believe you can get HIV from kissing, and one quarter said they could become infected after sharing a drinking glass.

To determine the effects of HIV infection on parent-child interaction, Schuster and his team interviewed 344 HIV-positive parents about their fears of transmission to or from their children.

They found that 42 percent of parents were afraid of catching something from their kids, and 36 percent were afraid of transmitting HIV to their children. More than one quarter said they avoided certain interactions “a lot” out of transmission fears, while 40 percent said they held back “a little.”

“The fear of catching an opportunistic infection is not unrealistic,” the researchers note. “Parents are advised to avoid contract when their child has an active infection, such as a cold, but not to avoid contact on a routine basis.”

Parents who have not had flu shots should be careful if their child develops the flu, Schuster added.

Nearly one out of five parents said they avoided kissing their children on the lips because they were afraid of transmitting HIV, and roughly the same percentage didn’t share utensils. A small percentage also said they didn’t hug their children or kiss them on the cheek because of HIV, the authors note.

Schuster said he was encouraged to see that most HIV-positive parents did not withhold affection, and the vast majority didn’t hesitate to hug or kiss their children on the cheek. Hopefully, over time, more parents will get the message that casual contact is perfectly safe, he added.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, February 2005.