Can mosquitoes or flies that have bitten HIV/AIDS patients transmit the virus to normal individuals through subsequent bites?
Disease description:
I am a 23-year-old male. Recently, the weather has been getting hotter, and there are more and more insects. I would like to know whether mosquitoes or flies that have bitten HIV-positive individuals can transmit the virus to healthy people through subsequent bites.
Doctor's answer (1)
Dr. Wang Xiaoyan
Mosquito or fly bites that occur after biting an HIV/AIDS patient will not transmit the virus to healthy individuals. HIV is primarily transmitted through sexual activity, direct exchange of blood and bodily fluids, and mother-to-child vertical transmission, but not through mosquito or fly bites. This is because when a mosquito bites, the processes of blood suction and injection are two separate mechanisms. Moreover, after a mosquito bites, most of the virus is destroyed by the insect's digestive enzymes. Additionally, HIV rapidly loses its activity once outside the human body and cannot survive inside mosquitoes or flies, where it quickly dies and becomes noninfectious. To date, no cases of HIV transmission through mosquito or fly bites have been documented. Therefore, there is no need for excessive concern about HIV transmission following a mosquito or fly bite, even if the insect has previously bitten an individual with HIV/AIDS.
