AIDS is not spread through everyday contact like living, playing or eating together.

AIDS is spread when certain body fluids from a person with HIV/AIDS enter the body of another person, such as:

• blood
• male semen or sperm,
• female vaginal wetness.

There are really only a few ways to get, or transmit, HIV/AIDS:

• from having sex with someone who has been infected. Often this infected person does not yet look ill or know he is ill.
• through blood transfusions or contamination (like dirty needles and knives used on the body).
• from mother to child in the birth process. The babies are truly innocent victims. Recent figures in one African country reported that 23% of their pregnant women had HIV.

Let's look at these a little more closely.

• HIV is most often spread during sexual intercourse. It is impossible to tell in the early stages that a person has the disease. (In fact, it may take as long as 10 years before AIDS is diagnosed.) Many people do not realize the danger, even as they carry HIV to more and more people. In some countries, one of every four adults carries the virus. Prostitutes have a much higher percentage of HIV infection. (In one African country it was reported that 23% of their people between ages 15 and 49 in the larger towns had HIV/AIDS; 10.5% of those living in rural areas have HIV/AIDS.)
• HIV is spread more easily during sexual intercourse when persons have sores caused by STD's (herpes, syphilis, etc.).
• Another way that contaminated blood can be passed to a healthy person is by using dirty needles. Suppose a needle is used to inject a sick person (who has HIV but does not know it). If that same needle is not cleaned properly, it can infect the next person on whom it is used. This same problem can happen during acupuncture, circumcision, or other traditional ceremonies. If needles or razors are used for more than one person without being disinfected or cleaned properly, then HIV can be passed from person to person. In some countries this is a great problem.
• When a pregnant woman has HIV/AIDS then her baby has about a 30% chance of being born infected. Using the right medicines for HIV can reduce this chance by half or more. During breastfeeding there is a small chance that the virus can be passed to the baby, but for almost all babies in poorer countries, the chance of dying from pneumonia or diarrhea if not breastfed is greater than the chance of getting HIV through breastfeeding. (Giving the baby other foods or drinks too early gives HIV a better chance to infect through breastfeeding, so most babies should have nothing but breast milk, not even water, until they are about six months old.) It is important to discuss these issues with a health worker.
• Some people get the disease during a blood transfusion. They were very sick with some other disease or injury and needed to be given more blood. Unfortunately that blood was not pure. It had been contaminated with HIV. These days the blood is usually tested for HIV before it can be used in a transfusion.
• Some get HIV while treating an infected person who is wounded. When a health care worker's hand has a cut or an open sore, the blood from the wounded victim enters that spot and can give the health worker HIV. This is why it is important for health workers to protect themselves by wearing gloves when treating wounds.
• HIV can possibly be spread if two kissing persons have sores present in their mouths. (The virus is not spread by the saliva in the mouth but the open sores allow the virus to leave one person and penetrate the other person's body.)

AIDS is not spread through everyday touching.

How is AIDS NOT spread?

Many people are afraid to be around a person who has AIDS, because they think they may get the disease from him or her. They may also be afraid because of the popular myths surrounding AIDS. AIDS is NOT spread by:

• everyday contact such as shaking hands or touching
• living, playing or eating together
• kissing or holding people (unless open sores are present)
• sleeping in the same bed
• eating or drinking from a common dish or cup
• using the same toilet
• swimming in the same water
• through contaminated food or water
• by mosquitoes
• breathing the same air
• someone coughing or sneezing
• wearing someone else's clothes

Preventing AIDS