On June 9th, Tom Newton Dunn of the Sun claimed the Taliban were using “HIV bombs” against coalition troops. The tabloid reported that Taliban fighters are placing syringes, possibly containing HIV, in the ground in order to puncture the skin of EOD soldiers searching for IEDs. Furthermore, the Sun posited that the syringes could become biological shrapnel if the devices were detonated. Do coalition personnel need to worry about contracting HIV from an IED?
Short answer: no. The consensus of medical research is that HIV does not survive long outside the human body. This is the reason there has never been a reported case of environmental (i.e. touching a surface) transmission of HIV. So, just how long would HIV survive in a syringe? Some laboratory studies found that the virus could remain alive for days. However, the CDC points out that these studies used HIV concentrations far higher than that found in the natural world and the specimens were maintains in precisely controlled environments. The mountains of Afghanistan are far from an ideal laboratory environment. In the real world, it is likely that a syringe of HIV contaminated blood would remain infectious for only a few hours. Additionally, if the device next to the syringes did detonate, the heat and force would in all likelihood kill the virus instantly.
Christopher R. Albon is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in armed conflict, public health, human security, and health diplomacy.
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