Claim of AIDS spreading in Texas pool defies science, evidence | Fact check
The claim: People contracted AIDS from a swimming pool in Texas
An April 27 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shares a screenshot that includes a map of a neighborhood in Arlington, Texas, captioned "No pools for me this summer."
The screenshot reads, "HOA Pool Infected with AIDS. ... 4th person tested positive this week. Make sure everyone that visited this pool gets checked. The pool wasn’t cared for and chemicals were not used."
The post was shared more than 200 times in a week and a half.
More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page
Our rating: False
This is impossible. While a report was made to at least one government agency claiming it had happened at the pool, it was investigated by the city of Arlington and found to have no basis. Decades of research have shown that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, cannot survive in the water and cannot be transmitted in hot tubs or pools.
Fragile virus cannot survive in water
Medical experts and researchers have known for decades that HIV cannot be transmitted through water since the virus cannot survive long outside of the body. Most transmission comes from unprotected sex or shared needles or syringes, although it can also spread in other ways, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The Human Immunodeficiency Virus – HIV – is a fragile virus that cannot survive outside the human body for long. Therefore, it cannot spread through water or by sharing swimming pools, hot tubs or other recreational facilities,” Douglas Loveday, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, told USA TODAY in an email.
The CDC had a campaign in 1991 stressing that HIV and AIDS were not transmissible through routine day-to-day contact, with posters including one emphasizing that AIDS could not be contracted from a public pool. A 1993 study specifically looking at how long HIV could survive in water found cells containing the virus could not be detected after five minutes in tap water.
Medical centers at Johns Hopkins, Stanford and the University of Rochester all state on their websites that HIV cannot be spread through community swimming pools.
Fact check: Don't pee in the pool. It's gross, but also dangerous to your heart and lungs
Susan Schrock, a spokesperson for the city of Arlington, told USA TODAY the city did receive a complaint on April 29 claiming people had contracted HIV at a pool, but she said there was no evidence supporting it. A city inspector conducted a complaint inspection the same day and found no unsanitary conditions in the pool water or on the pool deck, she wrote in an email.
The neighborhood's two pools previously passed inspections on April 19 and have valid permits to operate, she added.
USA TODAY could not reach the social media user who shared the claim for comment.
Reuters, PolitiFact and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Susan Schrock, May 8, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Douglas Loveday, May 8, Email exchange with USA TODAY
CDC, updated April 24, Ways HIV Can Be Transmitted
CDC, visited May 8, You won't get AIDS from a public pool
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, May 1993, Survival of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), HIV-infected lymphocytes, and poliovirus in water
Johns Hopkins Medicine, accessed May 8, HIV and AIDS
University of Rochester Medical Center, accessed May 8, FAQs - AIDS Center - Patient Care - Infectious Diseases
Stanford Healthcare, accessed May 8, Transmission of HIV/AIDS
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.
USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AIDS spreading in Texas community pool is impossible | Fact check
