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Risk Factors

HIV is spread through:

• Sexual contact with an HIV-infected person, especially intercourse or anal sex

• Transfer of HIV from a mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding

• Blood transfusion with HIV-infected blood (rare today, due
  to testing of all donated blood for HIV infection beginning in 1985)

• Sharing injection drug needles with an HIV infected partner

Rarely, HIV can be spread through:

• Blood from an HIV-infected person getting into an open wound of another person

• Being bitten by someone infected with HIV

• Sharing of personal hygiene items with an HIV-infected person (razors, toothbrushes, etc.)

Are you putting yourself at risk for contracting HIV?

About 40,000 Americans learn they are infected with HIV every year. As many as 950,000 people in the United States may be living with the virus and 25 percent do not know they are infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worldwide, about 40 million people are infected with HIV.

It is possible to contract HIV infection and develop AIDS with or without the risk factors listed below. However, the more risk factors you have, the greater your likelihood of contracting HIV infection and developing AIDS. If you have a number of risk factors, ask your health care provider what you can do to reduce your risk.

Certain lifestyle factors greatly increase your risk of contracting HIV infection and developing AIDS. By avoiding behaviors that are associated with increasing your risk, you can greatly reduce your risk.

Risk factors include:

Unprotected sexual activity

Most people become infected with HIV through sexual activity. People infected with HIV may not look sick. There is no way to tell if your partner has HIV without having been tested. Take precautions when engaging in intercourse or any other sexual act that results in an exchange of body fluids. You can contract AIDS by not using a condom when having sexual relations with a person infected with HIV. During sex, the vagina, vulva, penis, rectum, and mouth can provide entry points for the virus. Suggestions to lower your risk include:

• Abstain from sex.

• Use a latex condom and water-based lubricants. (If you have a latex allergy, there are poly-urethane condoms which are a safe alternative.)

• Use a female polyurethane condom.

• Limit your number of sexual partners.

• Avoid sexual partners who are HIV-positive or use injected drugs.

Sharing needles or syringes

• Using a needle or syringe that contains small amounts of infected blood can transmit HIV infection.

Medical conditions

• Sexually transmitted infections, such as syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and vaginal infections caused by bacteria tend to increase the risk of HIV transmission during sex with an HIV-infected partner.

Medical procedures

• Having a blood transfusion or receiving blood products before 1985 increased your risk of HIV infection and AIDS. Before blood banks began testing donated blood for HIV in 1985, there was no way of knowing if the blood was contaminated with HIV and recipients could become infected through transfusions.

• Receiving blood products, tissue or organ transplantation, or artificial insemination increases your risk of HIV infection and AIDS. Even though blood products are screened for HIV, there is still some degree of risk, because tests cannot detect HIV immediately after transmission.

• Working in the health care field
  Exposure to contaminated blood and needles puts health care workers at risk for HIV infection. When caring for patients:

Wear latex gloves and facial masks during all procedures or when handling bodily fluids.
Carefully handle and properly dispose of needles.
Cover all cuts and sores (yours and the HIV-infected person's) with bandages.

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