A horrified mum fears her young son could have caught HIV after she found him chewing on a used condom in their holiday hotel room.

The boy -aged around three – was discovered with the condom only a day after he had dental surgery leaving unhealed wounds in his mouth.

His mum – named as Ms Meng in local media in Wuhan, central China – rushed him to hospital to be examined by medics on 6th May.

She said she had been folding clothes in the family’s hotel room when she noticed her son chewing on something.

When she asked him what it was she was stunned when he spat out a condom he had found on the floor and appeared to be used.

His mother told doctors that she feared her son’s dental treatments could have allowed the virus to infect his bloodstream.

But emergency room doctors assured her that the chances of her son developing AIDS are virtually zero.

They explained that viruses cannot live outside bodily fluids and would die as soon as the fluids dry up.

But to calm her, they reportedly said she can have him tested and if the results stay the same for the next three months, that means the boy is HIV-free.

Ms Meng said although the first test turned out to be negative, she is anxious about the final confirmation.

Following the incident, a staff member from Yishang Hotel, told local media: “The hotel rooms are always cleaned before check-in. It is not clear why this happened.”

However, the hotel agreed to compensate the family for all the medical expenses they ran up following their stay.