What is the Most Common Way HIV is Transmitted?

How is HIV / AIDS transmitted?


HIV is a viral infection that can be transmitted through sexual contact, through blood or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding.

How does HIV become AIDS?

HIV destroys CD4 cells a specific type of white blood cell that plays a large role in helping your body fight disease. Your immune system weakens as more CD4 cells are killed. You can have an HIV infection for years before it progresses to AIDS.

People infected with HIV progress to AIDS when their CD4 count falls below 200 or they experience an AIDS-defining complication.

How HIV is transmitted

To become infected with HIV, infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions must enter your body. You can't become infected through ordinary contact — hugging, kissing, dancing or shaking hands — with someone who has HIV or AIDS. HIV can't be transmitted through the air, water or insect bites.

You can become infected with HIV in several ways, including:

1- By Having Sex :

 You may become infected if you have vaginal, anal or oral sex with an infected partner whose blood, semen or vaginal secretions enter your body. The virus can enter your body through mouth sores or small tears that sometimes develop in the rectum or vagina during sexual activity.

2- Having sex with Someone who has HIV:

 In general:Anal sex is the highest-risk sexual behavior. Receptive anal sex (“bottoming”) is riskier than insertive anal sex (“topping”).Vaginal sex is the second highest-risk sexual behavior.Having multiple sex partners or having sexually transmitted infections can increase the risk of HIV infection through sex.


3- Being born to an Infected Mother :

HIV can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.


4- From Blood Transfusions:

 In some cases, the virus may be transmitted through blood transfusions. American hospitals and blood banks now screen the blood supply for HIV antibodies, so this risk is very small.

5- By Sharing Needles :

HIV can be transmitted through needles and syringes contaminated with infected blood. Sharing intravenous drug paraphernalia puts you at high risk of HIV and other infectious diseases, such as hepatitis.

6- Eating food that has been pre-chewed by an HIV-infected person :

The contamination occurs when infected blood from a caregiver’s mouth mixes with food while chewing, and is very rare.


7- Being bitten by a person with HIV :

Each of the very small number of documented cases has involved severe trauma with extensive tissue damage and the presence of blood. There is no risk of transmission if the skin is not broken.


8- During Pregnancy or Felivery or through Breast-Feeding :

Infected mothers can infect their babies. But by receiving treatment for HIV infection during pregnancy, mothers significantly lower the risk to their babies.

9- Contact between broken skin, wounds, or mucous membranes and HIV-infected blood or blood-contaminated body fluids. These reports have also been extremely rare.

10- Deep, open-mouth kissing if the person with HIV has sores or bleeding gums and blood is exchanged. HIV is not spread through saliva. Transmission through kissing alone is extremely rare.

HIV is NOT spread by:

•Air or water
•Insects, including mosquitoes or ticks
•Saliva, tears, or sweat
•Casual contact, like shaking hands, hugging or sharing dishes/drinking glasses
•Drinking fountains
•Toilet seats

HIV is not spread through the air and it does not live long outside the human body.

People with HIV who are using antiretroviral therapy (ART) consistently and who have achieved viral suppression (having the virus reduced to an undetectable level in the body) are very unlikely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partners. However, there is still some risk of transmission, so even with an undetectable viral load, people with HIV should continue to take steps to reduce HIV transmission.

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