HIV cannot be transmitted through mosquito bites, a physician said, while an HIV/AIDS civic service group interviewed people on their knowledge of the disease’s transmission routes, finding that common misconceptions still prevailed.
HIV is transmitted through unprotected sex, blood transfusions or sharing intravenous needles with people who are HIV-positive, said Lin Hsi-hsun (林錫勳), Taiwan AIDS Society president and physician at E-da Hospital in Kaohsiung, adding that pregnant women might also transmit the virus to their unborn child.
Many people question whether mosquitoes can transmit HIV, Lin said, adding that unlike intravenous needles, the blood ingested by a mosquito cannot be discharged from the insect’s proboscis again, so it is not transmitted to other humans.
The Taiwan Lourdes Association said that a man named Matthew was working as a salesperson at a cosmetics retail store, but after his managers discovered that he was HIV-positive, they informed his colleagues and some of them began to distance themselves from him.
His managers suggested that he quit his job, the association said, adding that some of his colleagues refused to have meals with him and even used alcohol to sanitize a telephone he had used.
The association produced a four-minute video, which was shown in Taipei yesterday, to raise awareness and dispel misconceptions about HIV transmission, in which people on the street were asked to identify the disease’s transmission routes by choosing them from a list written on a placard held by Matthew.
Several people answered correctly that HIV cannot be transmitted by using the same toilet or by droplets discharged by an HIV-positive person through coughing or sneezing.
However, more than half of the respondents were not able to correctly answer all the questions.
At the end of the interview, Matthew revealed that he is HIV-positive and asked if the interviewees would be willing to hug him.
Some respondents hesitated, with one of them saying: “I still feel a little afraid.”
Association secretary-general Paul Hsu (徐森杰) said the video showed that there is still a gap between knowledge and emotions toward HIV, and the misconceptions or mixed feelings reflect the stereotype and stigma that people who are HIV-positive often face in their lives.
He said HIV can be treated as a chronic disease thanks to medical advances, so people who suspect they might have been infected should seek medical attention as soon as possible for better treatment and control at an earlier stage.
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