The dictionary states the definition as âin a literal way or senseâ but adds that, informally, it can be âused for emphasis rather than being actually trueâ such as âwe were literally killing ourselves laughingâ. The definition was added in the September 2011 edition, but went unnoticed until this week.
Strictly speaking, it is not AIDS but HIV that spreads through blood, semen and from a mother to child. Mosquitoes cannot transmit HIV for two reasons. Firstly, when the mosquito bites with its probosis, it draws blood and injects saliva, which contains antiviral factors and immunoglobulins and hence cannot transmit HIV. The blood from one person is not injected into the mosquito's next victim.
Infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, polio, and several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are easily spread through personal contact, water, and air, (many NTDs are vector borne â transmitted by mosquitoes, flies, etc) and are a particularly significant problem in developing countries.hat puts the death toll for chronic disease, 60% of all deaths that year, at double the number of deaths from infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), maternal and perinatal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies combined.