Four out of 10 people mistakenly believe

December 1, 2000 3:15 AM

Four out of 10 people mistakenly believe it is possible to get HIV by sharing a drinking glass or being coughed or sneezed on by an infected person. The survey, released Thursday, was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It's scary that so many people are still so ignorant of what causes HIV-AIDS," said Marty Algaze, a spokesman for the Gay Men's Health Crisis. "Almost 20 years into this epidemic, it's disturbing that people think you could still get it from casual contact."
posted by jhiggy (3 comments total)

Thats one hiv misconception that isn't as bad as some others, such as "invincibility".

..or is it? Being overly safe? or do most people look at this level of being ignorant as a seed of evil, of some type?
posted by jamescblack at 2:40 PM on December 1, 2000

possible problems with this line of thinking:

If you can catch HIV when a passing stranger sneezes on you, what good is a condom going to do?

-or-

If you can catch HIV when a passing stranger sneezes on you, better make sure all those evil gay aids patient drug users are hounded out of polite society, so you won't have to share a sidewalk with them.

A little paranoia is probably good. A lot of paranoia starts to achieve the opposite of the desired effect. This is why abstinence based sex ed programs don't work.

-Mars
posted by Mars Saxman at 5:51 PM on December 1, 2000

This is why my favourite t-shirt (unfortunately no longer wearable) had the AIDS ribbon postage stamp on the front, and on the reverse, the legend:

"Arm yourself with facts, not fear or fiction."
posted by Dreama at 7:50 PM on December 1, 2000