HIV/AIDS Risks

HIV is carried in blood and body fluids such as vaginal fluid, semen and breast milk. The virus has to get into the body in order to cause an infection.

People most often get HIV in one of three ways. One, by having sex with someone who's infectedeven if that person does not look sick and does not have AIDS. Two, by sharing needles or syringes while shooting drugs with an infected person. Three, from mother-to-child transmission, either during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.

It's also possible to contract HIV through blood transfusions and organ transplants. But because of blood and organ testing, this now happens only in rare cases.

It's technically possible to get HIV during oral sex or even from deep kissing, especially if people have open sores in the mouth or bleeding gums. You cannot get HIV from a toilet seat, from mosquito bites, by touching a person infected with the virus, from sneezing or coughing, or from any other kind of casual contact.


Author/Compiled by: Daniel DeNoon Medical Reviewer: Louise Chang, MD

SOURCES: CDC web site. NIAID web site. AIDS InfoNet, University of New Mexico School of Medicine. HIV InSite, University of California San Francisco. National Association of People with AIDS. International AIDS Society. Project Inform.