We are all aware that mosquitoes cannot transmit HIV in any way but do you know the reasons why it is impossible to get HIV through mosquito bites?
From a biological point of view, there are myriad reasons that shed more light on this matter.
Here’s scientific reasons why mosquitoes don’t transmit HIV:-
- The HIV virus gets digested in the mosquito’s gut
Unlike the infamous viruses that cause malaria and dengue fever, HIV can’t replicate within the gut of a mosquito and it is, therefore, digested in the gut.
After the HIV virus has gained entry into the human body, it binds on the T cells and starts proliferating at a rapid rate. In mosquitoes, there are no cells to bind on them. Instead, the virus gets digested completely by mosquito’s digestion system. In addition, mosquitoes have no receptor sites which HIV virus uses to infect immune cells.
- Mosquitoes’ feeding mechanism
There is a part of a mosquito that looks like a needle, snout. It is composed of six mouthparts. Four of them are used to puncture the skin of the person. On the other hand, the remaining two parts are characterized by two tubes.
One of the tubes is used for suckling blood from humans while the other one injects saliva into the bite. Considering this fact, it is only the saliva that gains entry into the body and not the blood. Saliva is one of the fluids that don’t carry HIV virus and therefore it is totally impossible to get HIV from mosquitoes as according to Cameron White, MD, MPH, an infectious disease specialist.
