HIV AIDS Transmission

Here’s question five in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

A true or false question about HIV transmission

Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.


The answer to Friday’s question is 1,000.

During 2007, an average of 1,000 children worldwide became infected each day with HIV, the vast majority of them newborns. Many people living in poverty are never tested and are unaware of their HIV positive status, thus increasing the rate of transmission. An important focus of our AIDS Initiative is the prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

Source: 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic Executive Summary, pg.8

16 Comments |Add a comment

  1. Chris Giovagnoni November 17, 2009

    The answer is false, and our winner is Sara Benson.

    Congratulations Sara!

    HIV can be passed from a mother to her child in three ways: during pregnancy, during childbirth, or through the breast milk. Even though children may not be infected when they are born, they can still be infected later through their mother’s breast milk.

    Simple drug interventions, however, can prevent mother-to-child transmission, which can greatly reduce the overall rate of HIV transmission.

    Source: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis by Dale Hanson Bourke (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Authentic Books, 2006), p. 15

  2. Sara Benson November 16, 2009

    False. Hiv can be transmitted through breastfeeding.

  3. Crystal November 16, 2009

    The child can still become infected from breastfeeding.

  4. Jenny November 16, 2009

    Unfortunately it is false

  5. Becky November 16, 2009

    False because HIV can be transmitted through breastfeeding.

  6. Katie November 16, 2009

    The answer is false.

  7. Amy Wallace November 16, 2009

    I’m going to say false.

  8. Amy November 16, 2009

    The baby can still contract HIV from his/her mother if she breastfeeds.

  9. Sarah Charles November 16, 2009

    Breastfeeding can transmit HIV as well. Wow, what a dilemma in countries where there are not other ways to feed the baby…I never really thought of that before…

  10. Brittany November 16, 2009

    FALSE – The infant may contract HIV during pregnancy, childbirth, or through nursing (breast milk).

  11. Sarah Charles November 16, 2009

    False, the child could still contract the disease in other ways; it is blood borne and if,for example, the child had a cut and the mother’s blood somehow came into contact with it, the child could still become infected.

  12. dean November 16, 2009

    That would be false

  13. TransitionGirl November 16, 2009

    false. i hope its true, but i’m saying false.

  14. Rachel November 16, 2009

    False- the baby is not completely safe from contracting AIDS from his/her momma.

  15. Adam Forwood November 16, 2009

    No, the child does not have any kind of immunity.

  16. Mike Stephens November 16, 2009

    False b/c they can get through the milk

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