HIV is found in the
blood and the sexual fluids of an infected person, and in the
breast-milk of an infected woman. HIV transmission occurs when
sufficient amount of these fluids gets inside the body of some other
person, other than the person already infected with this virus.
There are various ways a person can become infected with HIV.
Ways in which you can be infected with HIV :
• Having unprotected
sexual intercourse with an infected person without a condom is
risky, because the virus, which is present in an infected person's
sexual fluids, could get passed directly into the body of the other
partner and this is true for an unprotected anal sex too. Oral sex
although carries a lower risk, but again HIV transmission can occur
here if a condom is not used.
• Contact with an
infected person's blood is another way that could transmit this
deadly virus, if sufficient blood from an infected person enters the
body of an uninfected person.
• HIV also spreads through breastfeeding, if the infected lactating
mother feeds the baby with the breast-milk, thus passing the
infection on to their babies. There is a special drug which can
greatly reduce the chances of this happening, but it is unavailable
in much of the developing world.
• Many people have
been infected with HIV by the use of infected blood-products in the
past by direct blood transfusions & blood products which were
contaminated with the virus - in hospitals, for example. In much of
the world this is no longer a risk, as blood donations are routinely
tested.
• Injecting drugs is also one of the ways in which HIV gets passed
on to another person as many people use illegal drugs and make
themselves vulnerable to HIV infection. Even a tiny amount of blood
can transmit HIV, and could get injected directly into the
bloodstream with the drugs. Often, because it is illegal to possess
injecting equipment or works in many parts of the world, they are
shared by many people.
It is not possible to become infected with HIV through :
