Is it true that virus are dead when not in contact with living tissue and come alive when they do so?

Please give all the relevant details and the characteristic features of virus. Also explain what implications it would have on AIDS.

Viruses are neither living nor dead entities. Think of them as more of a machine. It can only work inside a living cell. When a virus enters a living cell, it "reprograms" the function of that cell so it no longer does what is was meant to do and instead does what the virus wants. Different viruses can survive outside the human body for different lengths of time. For example: the hepatitis virus can remain viable outside the body for up to 9 months while the AIDS virus onlt lasts about 7 minutes.

YES

Viruses are generally nothing more than bare strands of nucleic acid, some are DNA others are RNA, some do have proteins as part of their structure, others are encapsulated in protein. As such viruses are not living organisms, about all they can really do is reproduse. For this they need a host. The virus enters the host body by any one of several means, finds itself a cell it can use, in aids, it is the cells of the immune system itself, specifically lymphocytes, and uses the material within that cell to reproduce itself. Eventually, more virus strands than the call can contain are formed, the cell bursts releasing the virus strands to attack other cells and continue the process.