Japanese writer gets HIV preventive drugs after aiding Taipei stabbing victim with infection

Japanese writer Kinoshita Kouta has received preventive HIV treatment after coming into contact with the blood of a victim during a random stabbing attack in Taipei last Friday.

Kouta was near Zhongshan MRT station when the attack occurred. In a video he recorded, he described seeing a motorcyclist who had been stabbed and was bleeding on the ground. He rushed to help apply pressure to the wound, during which the scab on his hand came off, exposing a cut that directly contacted the victim's blood.

Taiwan's Health Minister Shih Chung-liang later stated that one of the victims was an HIV carrier, raising potential cross-infection risks for others wounded afterward or those exposed to splattered blood at the scene.

Kouta told TVBS that while "contact with blood carries infection risk" is an objective fact, he remains calm. He followed local authorities' instructions and went to a designated hospital for preventive medication, vaccinations and a blood test. As the results are not yet known, he will undergo another blood test after returning to Japan. He expressed gratitude for the concern and support received.

The attack left at least three dead and over ten injured. Kota, a former Nippon TV social affairs reporter and current writer, posted on X on Saturday evening describing the incident as a "terrorist attack" and expressing a sense of helplessness. His footage showed police, firefighters and paramedics at the scene near the Eslite Nanxi store.