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Sometime from 2006 to 2008, imported (mainly from Japan and Korea) cosmetic contact lenses that made the wearer’s irises “cartoonishly huge,” made waves in Bangkok, Thailand, where Thai fashionistas – predominantly women – used the contacts that layered their irises with such colors as “Angel Violet” and “Nudy Celeb Gold” that allowed them to match their eye color with the day’s outfit, so that they resemble popular Anime characters.

The fad, eventually called Big Eye, interestingly, caused the raising of alarm of a Thai Food and Drug Administration committee, which considered “tighter regulations on the contacts that are too often used incorrectly,” states an earlier report.  Specifically, this is because of the tendency of the teenagers to share their contacts, which could also mean the “sharing of ocular diseases AND EVEN HIV (Emphasis ours, especially as the belief fails to take into account the fact that contact lenses are cleaned with cleaning solutions – Ed).”

And there lies the question – how high is the risk of getting HIV infection through the deemed windows of the soul.

According to the Minnesota AIDS Project (mnaidsproject.org), “infection may only occur if one of the persons involved in an exposure situation is infected with HIV. Some people assume that certain behaviors or exposure situations can cause HIV disease, even if the virus is not present. This is not true.”

Having stated this, it is the “concentration of HIV (that) determines whether infection will occur.”  Thus, in blood, for example, which has a high concentration of HIV, “a small amount of blood is enough to infect someone, (just as) the concentration of virus in blood or other fluids can change, in the same person, over time.”  The blood, however, has to get into the bloodstream for infection to occur, since “it is not enough to be in contact with an infected fluid for HIV to be transmitted, (what with) healthy, intact skin not allowing HIV to get into the body.” 

Aside from blood, other infectious fluids include semen (including pre-seminal fluid), vaginal secretions, and through breast milk (through feeding, and in limited circumstances, when there is exposure to large quantities).

Non-infectious fluids include saliva (“The only time saliva would pose a risk would be if it had blood present in it,” Minnesota AIDS Project.  “There are no documented cases of HIV transmission through saliva. There is a protein in the mouth that attaches itself to the surface of blood cells and blocks infection by HIV that appears to be present in the mucous membrane in the mouth at a level sufficient enough to reduce the concentration of HIV in saliva to non-infectious levels”); urine and tears (not concentrated in an amount sufficient for transmission); and sweat, faeces, or vomit (the risk would be there if there was blood present).

The Minnesota AIDS Project adds: “HIV can enter through an open cut or sore, or through contact with the mucous membranes,” particularly in the genitals, and the anus/rectum, considered “inefficient barriers to HIV,” though also “through oral sex because body fluids can enter the bloodstream through cuts in the mouth.” 

Specifically, paths of infection are unprotected vaginal, anal and oral sex; direct blood contact, which may occur through needle sharing, transfusions, accidents in health care settings, or certain blood products; and mother to baby; before or during birth or through breast milk.”

The eyes – often considered an “open wound” – are not ALWAYS considered as a path of infection.  But truth be told, there are people (albeit still considerably small when compared to others infected through other means), usually from the healthcare industry, who have been infected with HIV due to splashes of blood in the eye, e.g. in 1988, an intensive care nurse had her hands, eyes and mouth heavily splashed with the blood of an asymptomatic HIV positive hemophiliac, eventually testing HIV positive (as reported by the European Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 4 No. 1). 

Largely, nonetheless, “the risk of HIV infection in this way is extremely small,” since, “for infection to occur, exposure must be in large quantities.”

The concept also applies to genital fluids, e.g. semen, on the eye.

But for Teeside Positive Action (tpa-uk.org), while the risk is low, “if you are exposed to potentially infectious material, rinse the open eye with water or sterile saline if available, and seek immediate medical attention.”  Of course, as is always stressed (and stressed yet again), if/when in doubt, seeking medical attention and/or have a HIV antibody test to ascertain status is recommended.

Back in Bangkok, Thailand, the Bright Eye fad continued – until, at least, another one came along.  With that, with the changing of what was “in,” so too disappeared the government’s worry, even sans reported cases of HIV transmission through this way. And so was shelved the lack of understanding of the issue.