can mosquitos pass on the AIDS virus?

Question

i got bit yesterday

Answer 1

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A study by scientists collaborating with the National Cancer Institute has found that mosquitoes can retain the AIDS virus in their bodies for two or three days after ingesting infected blood, according to an insect expert associated with the study.

A study by scientists collaborating with the National Cancer Institute has found that mosquitoes can retain the AIDS virus in their bodies for two or three days after ingesting infected blood, according to an insect expert associated with the study.

But the most eminent scientist associated with the study, Dr. Robert C. Gallo of the cancer institute, who is one of the nation's leading AIDS researchers, said the study had produced no evidence that the virus can multiply inside mosquitoes or that mosquitoes are capable of transmitting the virus once it is in their bodies.

And the Federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta reiterated that a range of epidemiological studies had found no evidence that AIDS cases have been caused by mosquitoes. Even in areas where mosquitoes are prevalent, a spokesman for the centers said today, the AIDS virus does not infect children, who are surely bitten by the same mosquitoes that bite the sexually active and drug addicted populations.

Scientists say acquired immune deficiency syndrome is transmitted mainly through sexual activity or through sharing a needle used to inject drugs intravenously. The Mosquito Hypothesis

The mosquito study, which was reported by The Atlanta Constitution today, is designed to explore the hypothesis that insects might somehow be involved in transmitting the AIDS virus, according to Dr. Jai Nayar, the insect specialist who is participating in the study.

Dr. Nayar, of the Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, Fla., said that mosquitoes from colonies in Florida had been fed in the laboratory on blood infected with the AIDS virus and tests had then been performed to see if the virus remained in the mosquito and could be passed on by the mosquitoes to uninfected blood.

Preliminary results indicate, he said, that ''the virus can stay in a mosquito for two or three days once the mosquito feeds on it.'' Whether it can stay even longer is still under study, he said.

But Dr. Nayar said there was ''very little indication so far'' that the mosquitoes would pass on the virus to a sample of uninfected blood while feeding on that sample, although such experiments are not complete.

Dr. Gallo was more emphatic, saying the study had so far found no evidence that mosquitoes passed the virus on to uninfected blood from which they eat.

Dr. Nayer said the new study had essentially confirmed findings by French scientists that insects in Africa are able to transport the virus in their bodies. The French scientists also say that no evidence indicates that mosquitoes have transmitted the virus to humans.

Dr. Gallo, who said his laboratory was loosely involved in guiding the study, said he interpreted the results so far as undercutting the hypothesis that mosquitoes might be involved in transmitting the AIDS virus. He said it was no surprise to find that mosquitoes fed virus-infected blood ingest the virus into their own bodies. A 'Momentary Flying Syringe'

The important finding, Dr. Gallo said, is that there is no evidence the virus multiplies inside the mosquito. Such multiplication would infect the mosquito with large volumes of virus for long periods of time, another top Federal scientist said. That scientist said the mosquito might be viewed as a ''momentary flying syringe'' that carries a tiny amount of the virus for a couple of days, but probably far too little of the virus to spread the infection.

Dr. Gallo said it was ''impossible for me to say'' that AIDS could never be transmitted by mosquitoes. But he added that this study had made it appear that such transmission was unlikely. ''All the results so far are negative,'' he said. ''The data should not be of interest to anybody on the planet. They are not terribly exciting results.''

Answer 2

No. When a mosquito ingests HIV-infected blood, the virus dies (unlike malaria, which lives in the mosquito's intestinal system and is re-injected out in its oral fluid). The mechanical procedure of feeding wipes blood off of the mosquito's proboscis--it is retracted into a sheath. Even in geographical areas where mosquitoes proliferate, HIV is still seen only in sexual or blood-sharing adults.

Answer 3

No. There is a more indepth discussion of this topic in Yahoo answers. The system of a mosquito doesn't digest and grow the virus.

Answer 4

How HIV is Transmitted

HIV is spread by sexual contact with an infected person, by sharing needles and/or syringes (primarily for drug injection) with someone who is infected, or, less commonly (and now very rarely in countries where blood is screened for HIV antibodies), through transfusions of infected blood or blood clotting factors. Babies born to HIV-infected women may become infected before or during birth or through breast-feeding after birth.

In the health care setting, workers have been infected with HIV after being stuck with needles containing HIV-infected blood or, less frequently, after infected blood gets into a worker’s open cut or a mucous membrane (for example, the eyes or inside of the nose). There has been only one instance of patients being infected by a health care worker in the United States; this involved HIV transmission from one infected dentist to six patients. Investigations have been completed involving more than 22,000 patients of 63 HIV-infected physicians, surgeons, and dentists, and no other cases of this type of transmission have been identified in the United States.

Some people fear that HIV might be transmitted in other ways; however, no scientific evidence to support any of these fears has been found. If HIV were being transmitted through other routes (such as through air, water, or insects), the pattern of reported AIDS cases would be much different from what has been observed. For example, if mosquitoes could transmit HIV infection, many more young children and preadolescents would have been diagnosed with AIDS.

All reported cases suggesting new or potentially unknown routes of transmission are thoroughly investigated by state and local health departments with the assistance, guidance, and laboratory support from CDC. No additional routes of transmission have been recorded, despite a national sentinel system designed to detect just such an occurrence.

Answer 5

I mosquitoes pass some of the more difficulty sickness what to stop them from passing AIDS, unless the life spam is really short when they contact a person with the sickness, they probably die in milliseconds without the transmission to others.

Answer 6

I suppose theoretically (just like theorectically all the air molecules in your room might happen to collect in one corner just by sheer chance), but there have been no cases documented of mosquitoes transmitting HIV, and millions of people are bitten by mosquitos. So nothing to worry about.

Answer 7

No mosquito's can not pass on AIDS, but they can give you malaria

Answer 8

no, mosquitos can not pass AIDS.

Answer 9

No, they cannot.
Dozens and dozens of tests have shown they cannot.
If they could, everyone on the planet would be HIV positive.

Answer 10

Not usually,as soon as the hiv virus gets air to it it dies in seconds........maybe yours was from nigerea ooops