HIV transmission: how is HIV transmitted?

• HIV transmission can happen through blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, anal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. 
• The risk of HIV transmission is higher for individuals engaging in unprotected sex with partners whose HIV status is unknown and for those who share medical equipment such as needles or syringes.
• Pregnant women should take precautions to prevent HIV transmission to their babies.
• HIV cannot be transmitted through casual contact like saliva, sweat or by sharing towels, utensils, or cutlery.

HIV transmission is an essential aspect in understanding how HIV works and how you can decrease your risk of infection. This article will guide you through the ways that HIV can spread and will give you an overview of the activities that include a risk for HIV transmission and activities that do not put you at risk.

HIV transmission can happen if you’ve been in contact with certain bodily fluids of a person who is infected with HIV and has a detectable viral load. The viral load refers to the amount of HIV which can be found in the blood of somebody who is infected. This viral load is particularly high in the early stages of the infection. If someone is diagnosed with HIV, they can take antiretroviral medication which is also referred to as ART. This can help suppress the virus in the body, which can lower the viral load. An undetectable viral load means that less than 200 copies of HIV can be found per milliliter of blood. People with an undetectable viral load can’t transmit the virus. This can help suppress the virus in the body, which can lower the viral load event to the point that a test can’t detect it. This is called an undetectable viral load. 1

Transmission of HIV can happen through several bodily fluids. These are: 1 2

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

There are specific activities in which you can come into contact with these bodily fluids, meaning that you can be at risk of contracting HIV. The most common ways to come into contact with HIV include: 1 3 2

• Having unprotected sex with someone who has HIV. The HIV transmission probability is higher for anal sex, although you can also contract HIV through vaginal sex. In general, receptive sex is riskier than insertive sex. 
• Sharing needles or syringes, particularly among intravenous drug users.

In rare cases, HIV transmission can happen in other situations as well. These include: 1 2

• Pregnancy. HIV can be transmitted from an HIV-positive mother to her child during pregnancy, birth, or by breastfeeding. HIV-positive women can reduce the risk of HIV transmission to their child to less than 1% by taking antiretroviral medication and by considering other feeding options apart from breastfeeding. 
• Having oral sex with someone who is HIV positive. This risk is negligible, but transmission may happen when an HIV-positive man ejaculates into his partner’s mouth or when there are wounds or ulcers present in the mouth or on the genitalia. 
• Receiving a blood transfusion or transplant. This risk is also minimal as all donated blood and organs in the USA are checked profoundly for HIV. 
• Being bitten by a person with HIV if the bite goes through your skin.
• Tongue kissing if both partners have open wounds in the mouth. 

There are no other ways of contracting HIV apart from the bodily fluids mentioned above. This means that HIV can not be transmitted by: 1 3

• Saliva, tears, sweat, feces, or urine
• Air or water
• Bites of insects such as mosquitoes or ticks
• Physical touch and sharing dishes
• Closed-mouth kissing

However, HIV can be transmitted in some of these situations if there are wounds on the skin which allow contact with the blood of an HIV-positive person. If there are no open wounds, then there’s also no risk, as HIV can not be transmitted through unbroken skin. 

AIDS itself cannot be transmitted, as it’s a consequence of HIV. AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, which is the late stage of HIV infection. In this stage, the human immunodeficiency virus will have caused a lot of damage to the immune system. This weakens the immune system, which leads to the development of opportunistic infections. These are infections caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites which would not usually appear in people with healthy immune systems. 1

With the correct treatment, HIV does not progress to AIDS, enabling people to live a long and healthy life.  

HIV transmission can happen through several bodily fluids, being blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, anal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. These fluids can be interchanged during sexual activity or by sharing needles and syringes. If you think that you may be at risk of HIV, then it’s crucial to speak to your healthcare provider about getting tested. 

Read also our article about "How to prevent sexually transmitted diseases" >>

Q: How do you get HIV? 
A: You can get HIV by having sex with an HIV-positive person or by sharing needles. There are also other, more rare ways of contracting HIV, such as oral sex, blood transfusions, and transplants. During pregnancy, an HIV-positive mother can also infect her child, although, with the proper treatment, this possibility is less than 1%.

Q: How do people get AIDS, 
A: People can get AIDS as a result of an untreated HIV infection. AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV, in which the immune system is severely damaged. This can lead to opportunistic infections. 

Q: Can you get HIV from kissing? 
A: You can not get HIV from kissing, as HIV is not transmittable through saliva. There’s, however, a rare possibility to get HIV if both partners have open wounds in the mouth and are tongue kissing, as this means that there could be an exchange of blood.

Q: How likely are you to transmit HIV? 
A: The risk of transmitting HIV depends on the kind of activity and the viral load of the infected person. The risk is highest for anal-receptive sex.