Why is HIV instantly inactivated?

[Tim147258]

HIV loses its activity even in vitro in blood or semen, but what is the basis of this statement, such as laboratory data, medical papers?It's hard to be convinced that this statement has no basis.

[mike_no]

I concur with CurfewX and would just like add, the reason contained infected fluid in a syringe would be able to have the virus retain it's infectious ability because of vacuum or no interference with environment. In a nutshell, once the virus is exposed to the environment it's outer shell that protects the caspid protein starts disintegrating causing it to be uninfectious.

Practically, the virus gradually starts degrading it's infectious ability the moment it establishes contact with the environment and can't infect because of low potency and ineffective transmission routes.

Therefore, HIV has limited survival chances outside host environments, and typically must transfer directly from host to host.

[mike_no]

We need to get to the point here. Did you have a risk that needs to be evaluated? Or we will be here discussing about this all day long.

[CurfewX]

Viruses, in general, are less virulent outside of a body for any period of time because, unlike bacteria, they require a human host in order to replicate and thrive.  Here's an article by a physician explaining various scenarios: https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-hiv-live-outside-the-body#bottom-line
Note the bottom line: "In fact, except for sharing needles and syringes, there has never been a documented case of a person getting HIV from casual contact with infected fluid on a surface in the environment."
In 40 years of observation, no one has been infected by fluid outside of the body.  

[Tim147258]

So, your view is that HIV does not lose its infectivity in an instant, but loses its effective infectivity immediately, which is equivalent to losing its infectivity.
That is to say, HIV does not require 100% death, but once it is exposed to the air, it loses its infectious capacity instantly?

[Tim147258]

Or does it mean that once exposed to air, it loses its activity instantly？

[CurfewX]

Yes, that is accurate.  There is no point in trying to determine just how "dead" the virus is, and at what point in time it is completely inactivated, because the fact is that it has not shown to be infectious in circumstances that involve encountering blood/fluid outside of a human host.  The only exception is in a needle with a syringe, because drawing blood into a syringe entraps it into a vacuum, and the fluid is not exposed to the environment.

[AnxiousNoMore]

This is an hiv prevention forum, not a place for laymen to try to get a biology degree in hiv transmission.
But the good thing is that the 40 year old science is not dependent on you understanding it or being "convinced" as you put it that it is a fact.

[Tim147258]

I just want to know what the basis of this statement is, as we know that cars can run because of engines, that's all.
Viruses are really fragile, but why is HIV so fragile that it loses its activity immediately? What academic papers or laboratory data can support it?