herbie
April 27, 2000, 9:59pm
#1
Is the mosquitoe responsible for the rampant HIV spread in Africa, as it is for malaria?
From the CDC website ( www.cdc.gov ):
The results of experiments and observations of insect biting behavior indicate that when an insect bites a person, it does not inject its own or a previously bitten person’s or animal’s blood into the next person bitten. Rather, it injects saliva, which acts as a lubricant so the insect can feed efficiently…HIV lives for only a short time inside an insect and, unlike organisms that are transmitted via insect bites, HIV does not reproduce (and does not survive) in insects. Thus, even if the virus enters a mosquito or another insect, the insect does not become infected and cannot transmit HIV to the next human it bites.
There also is no reason to fear that a mosquito or other insect could transmit HIV from one person to another through HIV-infected blood left on its mouth parts. Several reasons help explain why this is so. First, infected people do not have constantly high levels of HIV in their blood streams. Second, insect mouth parts retain only very small amounts of blood on their surfaces. Finally, scientists who study insects have determined that biting insects normally do not travel from one person to the next immediately after ingesting blood. Rather, they fly to a resting place to digest the blood meal.
Christopher Robin Hood - he steals from the rich and gives to the Pooh.
herbie
April 28, 2000, 6:45am
#3
mosquitoes could not spread malaria if they cannot spread AIDS, as both are viruses, and it is odd how Aids and malaria are running out of control in Africa (whereever mosquitoes are prevalant).herbie.
Malaria is caused by a parasite, not a virus. A parasite called Plasmodium falciparum is the most common one.