How is HIV passed from one person to another?
HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen (including pre-seminal fluid, or “pre-cum”), vaginal fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person. HIV can enter the body through a vein (e.g., injection drug use), the anus or rectum, the vagina, the penis, the mouth, other mucous membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria.
HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen (including pre-seminal fluid, or “pre-cum”), vaginal fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person. HIV can enter the body through a vein (e.g., injection drug use), the anus or rectum, the vagina, the penis, the mouth, other mucous membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria. These are the most common ways that HIV is transmitted from one person to another: by having sexual intercourse (anal, vaginal, or oral sex) with an HIV-infected person by sharing needles or injection equipment with an injection drug user who is infected with HIV from HIV-infected women to babies before or during birth, or through breast-feeding after birth HIV also can be transmitted through transfusions of infected blood or blood clotting factors. However, since 1985, all donated blood in the United States has been teste
HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen (including pre-seminal fluid, or ‘pre-cum’), vaginal fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person. HIV can enter the body through a vein (e.g., injection drug use), the anus or rectum, the vagina, the penis, the mouth, other mucus membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria.
