Due to the rare incidence of HIV-2 in the United States, testing for this specific strain of HIV is only recommended if a person has had a known risk with someone from a country where HIV-2 is prevalent. How is HIV transmitted?
A person must be infected with HIV in order to infect others. There are no uninfected “carriers” of the disease. The virus is transmitted only by the blood, semen, vaginal fluid or breast milk of an HIV-infected person. It is not transmitted by sweat, tears, urine, saliva or casual contact. In order for transmission to occur, the virus must enter an uninfected person’s bloodstream. The virus can enter the bloodstream through contact with mucus membranes or through open cuts or by injection. Transmission almost always occurs through unprotected anal or vaginal sex (mucous membranes), or by sharing needles. In very rare cases, HIV transmission has occurred through oral sex. HIV can be transmitted from an HIV-positive woman to an infant through breast milk. It should be noted that HIV is not very concentrated in breast milk and it is only through repeated feedings of large quantities of breast milk that transmission may occur.
