HIV spreads through bodily fluid exchange, but why can’t mosquitoes sucking blood spread it?

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HIV spreads through bodily fluid exchange, but why can’t mosquitoes sucking blood spread it?

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Mosquitoes don’t spread HIV because the virus is unable to replicate within the mosquito’s body or be transmitted through a mosquito bite. When a mosquito feeds on the blood of an infected person, it ingests the virus. However, HIV gets broken down in the mosquito’s gut and cannot pass through the mosquito’s saliva gland, which is how mosquitoes transfer other viruses (like malaria or dengue fever) from one host to another.

Furthermore, mosquitoes don’t inject the blood from their previous host into the next person they bite. Instead, they inject saliva containing anticoagulant substances to facilitate feeding. Since HIV is not present in the mosquito’s saliva, it cannot be passed on during the mosquito’s feeding process.

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