Transmission of HIV and AIDS

HIV is found in body fluids - blood, semen (the fluid a man releases from his penis when he becomes sexually aroused or has an orgasm), vaginal fluid (fluid or secretions from a woman's vagina or birth canal), and breast milk.

HIV can enter the body:

• By having unprotected (meaning not using a condom) vaginal, anal, or oral sex with a person living with HIV. HIV can enter the body through the lining of the vagina (birth canal), vulva ("lips" or opening to the vagina), penis, rectum, or mouth during sex. Anal sex without a condom is very risky because the rectum does not stretch easily (like the vagina), making it more likely to tear and bleed, and making it easier to become infected with HIV.

• By sharing needles, syringes, and other drug injection equipment that has a small amount of blood on it from someone who has HIV. This refers to both equipment used to inject illegal drugs (like heroin and cocaine) and legal drugs (like steroids, insulin, and vitamins). A person can also get HIV from using tattoo or body piercing equipment and razors that have blood on them from someone who has HIV.

• During pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding from a mother who has HIV to her baby. During pregnancy, HIV can be passed to the growing fetus through the placenta. HIV can also be passed to the baby during the birth process and through breast milk during breastfeeding. Women who have HIV should not breastfeed their babies. An option for a mother who has HIV could be donor milk from a milk bank or infant formula. Call the Mother's Milk Bank, at (919) 350-8599 for help.
  
  About 25 to 33 percent of all pregnant women who don't take the drug zidovudine (AZT) during pregnancy will pass HIV to their babies. Taking AZT while pregnant and having a cesarean, or C-section, delivery drops a woman's chances of passing HIV to her baby to 1 percent.

• Through contact with infected blood. Before donated blood was tested for HIV and before heat-treating techniques to kill HIV in blood products were introduced, a person could get HIV from transfusions of HIV infected blood or blood products. Today in the U.S., because all blood is screened for HIV, the risk of getting HIV from blood transfusions is very small. But, some countries don't test donated blood for HIV.