HIV Transmission Information

HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a retrovirus that attacks the body’s immune system. It does this by attacking particular groups of cells such as CD4+ T-Helper cells that help protect the body from infection. Because the virus lowers the body’s natural defenses, this opens the path for a number of opportunistic infections to develop and it is these infections that put the patient at most risk.

The only way HIV can be transmitted from person to person is via the exchange of certain bodily fluids such as semen, pre-ejaculate, blood, vaginal fluid and breast milk. This means that the primary methods of HIV transmission are practices such as having unprotected oral or penetrative sex and sharing hypodermic needles.

Although there is a lot of stigma attached to HIV and AIDS, there is no reason to panic if you know someone with the illness. HIV is not an airborne virus and HIV transmission cannot occur through skin contact or even by kissing (unless there is a sore in the mouth exposing you to blood). Only by coming into contact with bodily fluids from someone who tests positive for HIV can you become infected yourself.

A lot of people get confused by the terms HIV and AIDS and are unsure of the difference between them. To put it in simple terms, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, so if you protect yourself as best you can from the virus, you will not get AIDS. If you become infected with HIV a course of anti-retroviral treatment can help to keep it at bay and prevent you from developing AIDS for several years in some cases.