Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Can HIV spread through coughing or sneezing?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
AIDS
Scanning electron micrograph of HIV-1 virions (green) budding from a cultured lymphocyte. Multiple round bumps on the cell surface represent sites of virion assembly and budding.
No, HIV cannot be spread through coughing or sneezing.1
The virus is fragile and cannot survive for long outside the human body. HIV is transmitted only through the direct transfer of specific bodily fluidsāsuch as blood, semen, vaginal or rectal fluids, and breast milkāfrom an infected person to an uninfected person.12
Because of how the virus functions, it is not transmitted through casual contact, such as shaking hands, nor is it spread through food, water, or insect bites.12