Which of the following diseases can be transmitted from one person to another through tattooing?
- 1.Chikungunya
- 2.Hepatitis B
- 3.HIV-AIDS
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Tattooing pierces the skin with a needle that can carry a previous client's blood. Hepatitis B and HIV are blood-borne viruses, so both can pass this way if equipment is shared or not sterilised. Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne disease spread by the bites of infected Aedes mosquitoes, not by blood contact through tattoo needles.
- ✗ 1. Chikungunya virus is transmitted by infected female mosquitoes, most commonly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. It is a vector-borne disease, not one passed between people through tattoo needles.
- ✓ 2. WHO lists tattooing and piercing among the ways hepatitis B spreads, along with needlestick injury and exposure to infected blood and body fluids.
- ✓ 3. HIV spreads through infected blood on contaminated needles and through procedures involving unsterile cutting or piercing of the skin. A tattoo needle reused without sterilisation fits this route.
- ✗ (d) Option (d) wrongly includes chikungunya, a vector-borne disease spread by mosquito bites rather than by blood contact.
Remember · Tattooing, piercing and shared needles can spread blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya and dengue spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
Sources
- WHO fact sheet: Hepatitis B ↗ “Hepatitis B is also spread by needlestick injury, tattooing, piercing and exposure to infected blood and body fluids, such as saliva and menstrual, vaginal and seminal fluids.”
- WHO fact sheet: HIV and AIDS ↗ “sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injecting equipment, or drug solutions when injecting drugs; receiving unsafe injections, blood transfusions, or tissue transplantation; and medical procedures that involve unsterile cutting or piercing”
- WHO fact sheet: Chikungunya ↗ “Chikungunya virus is transmitted by infected female mosquitoes, most commonly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2013, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
