How Is Hiv Transmitted From Person To Person

How Can A Person Who Is Hiv Positive Prevent Passing Hiv To Others

Take HIV medicines daily. Treatment with HIV medicines helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. ART cannot cure HIV, but it can reduce the amount of HIV in the body . One of the main goals of ART is to reduce a person’s viral load to an undetectable level. An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. People with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.

Here are some other steps you can take to prevent HIV transmission:

• Use condoms correctly every time you have sex.
• Talk to your partner about taking PrEP.
• If you inject drugs, do not share your needles, syringes, or other drug equipment with your partner.

Body Piercings And Tattoos

While theoretically feasible, the risk of HIV from body piercings and tattoos is low due to the licensing and strict regulation of practitioners within the industry. For its part, the CDC insists that the risk of HIV transmission is low to negligible.

Among unlicensed practitioners who do not adhere to industry sterilization and hygiene practices, the risk is potentially higher, although it is unclear by how much.

Transmission Of Hiv Infection

The transmission of HIV requires contact with a body fluid that contains the virus or cells infected with the virus. HIV can appear in nearly any body fluid, but transmission occurs mainly through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. Although tears, urine, and saliva may contain low concentrations of HIV, transmission through these fluids is extremely rare, if it occurs at all.

HIV is not transmitted by casual contact or by close, nonsexual contact at work, school, or home. No case of HIV transmission has been traced to the coughing or sneezing of an infected person or to a mosquito bite. Transmission from an infected doctor or dentist to a patient is extremely rare.

HIV is usually transmitted in the following ways:

HIV is more likely to be transmitted if skin or a mucous membrane is torn or damagedeven if minimally.

In the United States, Europe, and Australia, HIV has been transmitted mainly through men who have sex with men and the sharing of needles among people who inject drugs, but transmission through heterosexual contact accounts for about one fourth of cases. HIV transmission in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia occurs primarily between heterosexuals, and HIV infection occurs equally among men and women. In the United States, fewer than 25% of adults who have HIV infection are women. Before 1992, most American women with HIV were infected by injecting drugs with contaminated needles, but now most are infected through heterosexual contact.

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Blood Transfusions And Transplants

In the early days of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s to early 1990s, there were many people infected with HIV due to tainted blood transfusions. Prior to 1992, there were no screening tools available to ensure that the U.S. blood supply, including clotting factors and plasma, was free of the virus.

That risk has fallen dramatically in recent decades due to advances in detection technologies and the universal screening of blood and tissue donations in the United States and other countries. This not only includes the screening of HIV but other bloodborne infections like hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Today, the risk of HIV from a blood transfusion in the United States is roughly one in 1.5 million. From 2002 to 2008, only one documented case of HIV transmission from a transfusion was reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

The risk outside of the United States can vary dramatically. In Egypt, for instance, one in four HIV infections is the result of a transfusion. By contrast, in South Africa, the country with the highest HIV incidence in the world, the transmission risk is closer to one of every 76,000 transfusions.

When Someone You Know Has Hiv

When someone in your family tests positive for HIV, you may feel a range of emotions. Among fear, confusion, regret and love for the person afflicted, you may also feel afraid for your own personal well-being and may have questions about just how contagious HIV may be. Rest assured that people with HIV can live at home and maintain a normal social life. Since the virus is not spread by casual household contact, family members, roommates, and visitors are not at risk of becoming infected.

The following information is provided to clarify what should and should not be done in living with someone with HIV. You will see that most of it is just good hygiene practices.

Hand washing is an effective way to prevent the spread of any germs. Wash hands with soap and water before preparing food, before eating, and after using the toilet. This is to protect both the infected and uninfected family members remember that a person living with HIV may have a weak immune system and therefore may be more likely to catch any type of infection from another person. They, too, are vulnerable.

Personal Articles such as toothbrushes, razors and razor blades should not be shared among household members. These may become soiled with blood and could spread germs that may cause many illnesses.

Wash dishes in hot soapy water. No special precautions are necessary. There is no need to wash separately the dishes used by the infected person.

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Lowering The Risk Of Sexual Transmission

There are several protective measures which dramatically reduce the risk of HIV transmission during sex. You can find out more about these on other pages.

Undetectable viral load: when people with HIV take effective treatment, the amount of HIV in their body fluids falls drastically, to the point where they cannot pass HIV on to their sexual partners. An extremely low level of HIV in body fluids is referred to as an undetectable viral load. The knowledge that this prevents transmission is often referred to ‘Undetectable equals Untransmittable’ .

PrEP: if the HIV-negative person takes antiretroviral medications as pre-exposure prophylaxis , this significantly reduces the risk of acquiring HIV. The most common form of PrEP is in a tablet, but it can also be provided as a vaginal ring or an injection.

Condoms: if male condoms or female condoms are used, this significantly reduces the risk of acquiring HIV.

Male circumcision: if you are circumcised, this partially lowers your risk of acquiring HIV during vaginal sex.

Whats The Difference Between Hiv And Aids

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. And people with HIV do not always have AIDS.

HIV is the virus thats passed from person to person. Over time, HIV destroys an important kind of the cell in your immune system that helps protect you from infections. When you dont have enough of these CD4 cells, your body cant fight off infections the way it normally can.

AIDS is the disease caused by the damage that HIV does to your immune system. You have AIDS when you get dangerous infections or have a super low number of CD4 cells. AIDS is the most serious stage of HIV, and it leads to death over time.

Without treatment, it usually takes about 10 years for someone with HIV to develop AIDS. Treatment slows down the damage the virus causes and can help people stay healthy for several decades.

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What Is A Retrovirus

HIV-1 originated in Central Africa during the first half of the 20th century when a closely related chimpanzee virus first infected people. The global spread of HIV-1 began in the late 1970s, and AIDS was first recognized in 1981.

Can Hiv Be Transmitted Through Saliva And Urine

The majority of your daily activities do not pose a risk of HIV transmission, even though HIV is contagious. HIV can only be transmitted through certain body fluids, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, anal fluid, and breast milk. Saliva, sweat, skin, feces, and urine cannot be transmitted through these methods.

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Screening And Diagnostic Tests

If doctors suspect exposure to HIV infection, they do a screening test for HIV. Doctors also recommend that all adults and adolescents, particularly pregnant women, have a screening test regardless of what their risk appears to be. Anyone who is concerned about being infected with HIV can request to be tested. Such testing is confidential and often free of charge.

The current combination screening test tests for two things that suggest HIV infection:

• to HIV

• HIV antigens

Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system to help defend the body against a particular attack, such as that by HIV. Antigens are foreign substances that can trigger an immune response.

The body takes several weeks to produce enough antibodies to be detected by the test, so results of the antibody test are negative during the first few weeks after the virus enters the body . However, results of the p24 antigen test can be positive as early as 2 weeks after the initial infection. The combination tests can be done quickly by a laboratory. Also, a version of these tests can be done in a doctor’s office or clinic . If results are positive, doctors do a test to distinguish HIV-1 from HIV-2 and a test to detect the amount of HIV RNA in the blood .

Other, older rapid bedside tests are also available. These tests can be done using a sample of blood or saliva. If results of these rapid screening tests are positive, they are confirmed by ELISA or by repetition of one or more other rapid tests.

How Do You Get Or Transmit Hiv

You can only get HIV by coming into direct contact with certain body fluids from a person with HIV who has a detectable viral load. These fluids are:

• Blood
• Semen and pre-seminal fluid
• Rectal fluids
• Vaginal fluids
• Breast milk

For transmission to occur, the HIV in these fluids must get into the bloodstream of an HIV-negative person through a mucous membrane open cuts or sores or by direct injection.

People with HIV who take HIV medicine daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners.

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How Many People Are Living With Hiv

Approximately 37.6 million people are living with HIV across the globe, with 1.7 million being aged under 15 years. It is estimated that over 31,000 people are currently living with HIV in Australia. Since the introduction of biomedical prevention strategies, HIV notifications have been reduced. There are now roughly between 600-900 HIV notifications per year in Australia where cases used to be over 1,000 per year. This decline has also been seen in Victoria, with cases peaking at 322 in 2016 and declining to 195 in 2020. In Victoria in 2021:

How Do I Protect Myself From Hiv

There are a number of ways you can protect yourself from HIV, including:

• using a condom every time you have vaginal, anal or oral sex
• in some countries PrEP is available. This is a course of HIV drugs which if taken consistently as advised by your healthcare professional prevents HIV infection through sex
• avoiding sharing needles, syringes and other injecting equipment
• taking HIV treatment if you are a new or expectant mother living with HIV, as this will dramatically reduce the risk of passing HIV to your baby during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
• asking your healthcare professional if the blood product you are receiving has been tested for HIV
• taking precautions if you are a healthcare worker, such as wearing protection , washing hands after contact with blood and other bodily fluids, and safely disposing of sharp equipment
• if you think you have been exposed to HIV you may be able to access PEP, a 4-week course of ARV drugs taken after possible HIV exposure to prevent HIV infection. You must start PEP within 72 hours of possible exposure to be effective.

For more detailed information on how to prevent HIV infection visit the relevant page from the listed below:

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

, MD, MAS, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

• HIV is transmitted through close contact with a body fluid that contains the virus or cells infected with the virus .

• HIV destroys certain types of white blood cells, weakening the bodys defenses against infections and cancers.

• When people are first infected, symptoms of fever, rashes, swollen lymph nodes, and fatigue may last a few days to several weeks.

• Many infected people remain well for more than a decade.

• About half of untreated people become ill and develop AIDS, defined by the presence of serious infections and cancers, within about 10 years.

• Eventually, most untreated people develop AIDS.

• Blood tests to check for HIV antibody and to measure the amount of HIV virus can confirm the diagnosis.

• HIV drugs two, three, or more taken togethercan stop HIV from reproducing, strengthen the immune system, and thus make people less susceptible to infection, but the drugs cannot eliminate HIV, which persists in an inactive form.

HIV infections may be caused by one of two retroviruses, HIV-1 or HIV-2. HIV-1 causes most HIV infections worldwide, but HIV-2 causes many HIV infections in West Africa.

Us National Hiv/aids Strategy

The major recommendations are outlined here. The full report can be obtained from .

Reducing New HIV Infections

• Step 1: Intensify HIV prevention efforts in the communities where HIV is most heavily concentrated
• Step 2: Expand targeted efforts to prevent HIV infection using a combination of effective, evidence-based approaches\
• Step 3: Educate all Americans about the threat of HIV and how to prevent it.

Increasing Access to Care and Improving Health Outcomes for People Living with HIV

• Step 1: Establish a seamless system to immediately link people to continuous and coordinated quality care when they learn they are infected with HIV
• Step 2: Take deliberate steps to increase the number and diversity of available providers of clinical care and related services for people living with HIV.
• Step 3: Support people living with HIV with co-occurring health conditions and those who have challenges meeting their basic needs, such as housing.

Reducing HIV-Related Disparities and Health Inequities

• Step 1: Reduce HIV-related mortality in communities at high risk for HIV infection.
• Step 2: Adopt community-level approaches to reduce HIV infection in high-risk communities.
• Step 3: Reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.

Achieving a More Coordinated National Response to the HIV Epidemic

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Preventive Treatment After Exposure

People who have been exposed to HIV from a blood splash, needlestick, or sexual contact may reduce the chance of infection by taking antiretroviral drugs for 4 weeks. These drugs are more effective when they are started as soon as possible after the exposure. Taking two or more drugs is currently recommended.

Doctors and the person who was exposed typically decide together whether to use these preventive drugs. They base the decision on the estimated risk of infection and the possible side effects of the drugs. If they do not know whether the source is infected with HIV, they consider how likely the source is to be infected. However, even when the source of the exposure is known to be infected with HIV, the risk of infection after exposure varies, depending on the type of exposure. For example, risk from a blood splash is less than that from a needlestick.

Immediately after exposure to HIV infection, what is done depends on the type of exposure:

• If skin is exposed, it is cleaned with soap and water.

• Puncture wounds are cleaned with antiseptic.

• If mucous membranes are exposed, they are flushed with large amounts of water.

Preventive Treatment Before Exposure

Taking an antiretroviral drug before being exposed to HIV can reduce the risk of HIV infection. Such preventive treatment is called preexposure prophylaxis . However, PrEP is expensive and is effective only if people take the drug every day. Thus, PrEP is recommended only for people who have a very high risk of becoming infected, such as people who have a partner who is infected with HIV.

PrEP may also be recommended for people who engage in high-risk sexual activities, such as the following:

• Men who have anal sex with men without using a condom

• Heterosexual men and women who do not regularly use condoms during sex with partners whose HIV status is unknown and who are at increased risk of HIV infection

People who use PrEP still need to use other methods to prevent HIV infection, including consistent use of condoms and not sharing needles to inject drugs.

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