There are various forms of this commonly spread HIV myth: It was developed by the CIA, the Russians or in Hitler’s labatories to be used in germ warfare or to wipe out a minority. Unsurprisingly, none of these are true, and many of them date back to times when so little was known about the disease that such rumours seemed plausible. It is now believed that HIV is a mutation of a disease carried by Chimpanzees – Simian Immunodeficiency Virus – and that it was probably transferred to humans via blood contact through the hunting of an infected animal. The first recorded instance of an HIV death was recorded in 1959 in the Congo.

Swallowed bleach will prevent HIV infection

According to an Associated Press article from earlier in the year, some teens in Florida are under the mistaken belief that swallowing bleach will kill the HIV virus. Whether or not any teens genuinely believe this bizarre AIDS myth, it’s important to restate the fact that swallowing bleach will not kill the virus – but might very well kill you. While using bleach on shared needles is advice direct from the Centers for Disease Control, swallowing it is going to do no good whatsoever, and may well do some bad…

Madmen are leaving syringes filled with HIV positive blood where they will infect random people

There are all sorts of AIDS myths around syringes containing HIV infected blood either deliberately or accidentally infecting innocents who come across them. Movie theatre chairs, gas pump handles, coin slots on payphones and random injections at nightclubs have all be touted, but none of them amount to a real threat with no recorded instances of people contracting the virus through any of these methods. The forwarded emails these are typically spread through are mischief making scare mongering according to various sources, and there are two sources of comfort to take if still worried: 1) The HIV virus cannot last for very long outside of its host, so discarded needles are unlikely to be a threat, and 2) Even if injected with a syringe of fresh HIV infected blood, there is around a 1 in 200 chance of becoming HIV positive (though this increases with the volume of blood involved)

Mosquitos can transmit HIV

It’s an HIV myth that you can get AIDS via mosquito bites. Because mosquitoes do not inject blood into their prey, they cannot spread HIV in this manner. The way they can spread the likes of malaria and yellow fever is through the insect’s saliva but HIV is not spread in that way. If the insect has HIV infected blood in its gut, there’s a slim chance that swatting it, and then scratching the itch could lead to infection, but it’s such a long shot that this has never been recorded.

HIV can only infect gay men and drug users

This is an age old AIDS myth that just won’t go away. The HIV virus can infect anyone of any age, ethnicity or sexual orientation. While it’s true that anal sex carries a higher risk of infection, most penetrative sex acts carry a risk of transferring the virus.

An HIV infected mother cannot have children

HIV does not affect fertility – though it’s possible that in its later stages women will have a higher chance of spontaneous miscarriage. The chance of transferring the disease to an unborn child is 15-30% normally but reduced to 2-3% if they follow medical guidelines.

There were plans to kill a Sesame Street Character with AIDS to teach children about death

When Jim Henson died in 1990, rumour spread that Ernie from Sesame Street would be killed off, either because Jim Henson did his voice and no-one else could be found, or to teach children to deal with death. Despite the studio’s denial, these rumours continued to spread and one of the explanations was that he would either die through terminal illness – AIDS, cancer or leukaemia – or via some kind of traffic accident. None of the muppets on the show have ever passed on, although when the actor who played Mr Hooper died in 1982 the show dealt with the situation honestly, and culminated in the adults helping Big Bird understand that his friend wouldn’t be coming back.

However, one HIV related Sesame Street story is true – in 2002, it was announced that the South African version of the show was to introduce a female muppet who was HIV positive to fight stereotypes of people with the virus. It may seem an odd area to introduce into a children’s show, but with 1 in 9 people HIV positive in South Africa, the importance of working against the stigma of females with the virus is an issue that they felt needed to face head on.

Hopefully listing these AIDS myths will help people better understand a disease that has much misinformation spouted about it! Although we still have no cure for AIDS, if you are concerned that you may have become infected, getting HIV testing as soon as possible is very important. Not only will you be able to prevent the spread to other people, but scientists have developed many ways of improving the quality of life for sufferers and an early diagnosis can really help.