HUM-MOLGEN archive: DIAG: HIV/mosquitoes

************************************************************** HUM-MOLGEN DIAGnostics/Clinical Research ************************************************************** This DIAG message contains 2 submessage(s): 1) REPLY TO CLAUDE BAKER - HIV/MOSQUITO 2) REPLY TO CLAUDE BAKER - HIV/MOSQUITO + a note from the editor Carlo Gambacorti MD, Editor, Human Molecular Genetics network Diagnostics/Clinical Research Section ************************************************************** ************************************************************** The CDC put this rumor to rest a few years ago, but it still keeps popping up, frightening ignorant laymen. Consider the epidemiology: AIDS primarily affects IV drug users and sexually active teenagers/adults, and children whose mothers are HIV+. Mosquitoes, on the other hand, bite EVERYONE. If mosquitoes transmitted HIV, older children of HIV- mothers would have the same prevalence as the other risk groups. They don't. Chris Friedrich, M.D., Ph.D. Voice (410) 614-2521 Lipid Research-Atherosclerosis Unit Fax (410) 955-1276 Dept. of Pediatrics, CMSC 6-104 Voice mail (410) 614-1030 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 600 North Wolfe Street Baltimore, MD 21287 cfriedri@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu ********************************************************************** Dear Claude and whoever might have been misled: HIV is not transmitted by mosquitoes. That notion was put forth by an ultra-right wing militant extremist group headed by Lyndon LaRouche. The evidence comes from the thousands of case studies tracking the source of infection. In no instance, even in tropical regions that have severe mosquito and malaria problems, was infection attributable to an insect bite or sting. Peter Covitz, Ph.D. Department of Biological Sciences Stanford University peterc@camelot.stanford.edu *********************************************************************** Note from the editor. This editor thinks that any good faith question on HMG should not be just discarded as "trivial", and should receive a scientific reply. In this particular case Claude Baker asked of any work showing whether mosquitoes could transmit the HIV virus. Therefore any citation of papers showing whether mosquitoes (or other insects) can carry and transmit the HIV virus will be appreciated. Since the risk (if existing) would be minimal, epidemiological studies (unless positive) provide limited help (we already know that insects are NOT major players in HIV transmission). The reasons against a major involvement of mosquitoes in HIV transmission are: HIV does not replicate in mosquitoes and therefore does not reach the insect's saliva (which is injected), the volume of blood processed by the insect is very small, and finally no case was so far tracked to mosquito bites. Experimental attempts at transferring HIV to uninfected blood via mosquitoes failed (AIDS 1, 171-4, 1987). The situation could be slightly different with separate insects that have quite larger blood meals and regurgitate part of previous meals into the feeding lesion (AIDS, 7, 341-7, 1993). A balanced view could be that transmission of HIV from a mosquito cannot be ruled out at 100% but is so a remote possibility (perhaps 1 in millions, Science, 237, 355-6, 1987) to pose a negligible risk. Carlo Gambacorti MD.