The Scoop On Hiv Transmission

The AIDS virus is spread in several ways (risk factors): Sexual Contact, Sharing needles or accidental used needle puncture, and less rarely from blood transfusion, or blood clotting factor product or organ donation.

All of these risk factors carry elements of intention as well as unintentional exposure.

Intentional Risk:

Two consenting adults have sex where there is contact with the semen or vaginal fluid of the person who is HIV positive and both adults involved know about the AIDS.

Persons who are using needles for drug usage willingly share the same needle that someone else has used.

A pregnant woman who knows she is HIV positive does not take her HIV medicine during pregnancy and her infant gets infected with the HIV virus. The infant of course has no intention of being involved in the risk, but the woman does.

Unintentional Risk:

Medical personnel though they understand that they run the risk of being exposed when they handle needles may run across situations where others have been careless regarding proper disposal of needles and they through no act of their own become punctured with an infected needle.

Babies born to HIV positive women who do not properly medicate themselves during pregnancy or who breast feed them knowing they are HIV positive and should not be giving them breast feeding as the milk is a bodily fluid that can transfer the AIDS virus.

Those who receive infected blood or blood products or organs from those individuals who were HIV positive. This is a rare occurrence as today many precautions are taken to insure the safety of blood, blood products and donor organs.

Someone who has sex that they did not consent to with someone who is HIV positive.

There is a lot of fear being generated about possible ways to be infected that have not been scientifically proven. These include the possibilities of the HIV virus being transmitted by insects, air, water, or casual touching like hugs.

There have been numerous investigated cases where medical professional were accused of infecting others. There has only been one case that evidence was clear enough to show that a dentist did indeed infect 6 of dental patients.

Any new cases of AIDS that involve unknown transmissions are investigated thoroughly by both the local health department where the case originated and also the state of origin’s health department.

Medical AIDS authorities and Scientists have agreed that the AIDS virus does not have the capability of surviving well in the environment and have basically ruled out “environment” such as air or water as a mode of transmission. The basic modes of transmissions have been discovered to be: blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, saliva and surprisingly tear.

There have been rare reported transmissions of blood to skin or mucous membrane transmissions within family units. Those who are exposed to the AIDS virus as well as those who have AIDS in cases where medical personnel know of the AIDS diagnosis have been instructed on how to take safety precautions. There are also published publications that are guidelines to how to live with infected HIV persons safely.

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