Can You Get Aids From Eating Blood

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How HIV Spreads
Methods of Transmission
Avoiding Transmission

How HIV Spreads

HIV manual tin be prevented! There are ways to avoid, or at least reduce, contact with body fluids that transmit HIV. This fact canvass explains how.

Many people nevertheless do not understand how HIV is passed, or transmitted, from one person to another. Knowing the basics helps yous avoid acquiring HIV. If you are living with HIV, these basics assist y'all avoid transmitting HIV to someone else.

HIV is transmitted, or spread, through contact with the post-obit trunk fluids:

Blood – including menstrual claret and any blood in saliva (spit), urine (pee), and carrion (poop)
Semen ("cum") and other male sexual fluids ("pre-cum")
Vaginal fluids
Breast milk

When a person living with HIV is taking HIV drugs and their viral load has stayed at undetectable levels (not enough HIV in their bloodstream for a exam to measure), that person cannot sexually transmit HIV to a partner. This is called treatment as prevention, and is oftentimes represented in the HIV community past the simple phrase "undetectable equals untransmittable," or "U=U." For more than information on this development, see our fact canvass Undetectable Equals Untransmittable: Building Promise and Ending HIV Stigma.

HIV is also spread through contact with the torso fluids below. All the same, usually only health intendance workers come into contact with these fluids. These fluids are:

Cerebrospinal fluid around the encephalon and spinal string
Synovial fluid around the joints
Amniotic fluid around a developing fetus (or baby in the womb)

HIV is not spread through contact with these body fluids:

Sweat
Tears
Saliva (spit)
Feces (poop)
Urine (pee)

In other words, you cannot get HIV past touching or hugging someone who is living with HIV, kissing someone living with HIV, drinking or eating from the same cups or utensils as a person living with HIV, or by using a toilet too used by someone living with HIV.

Methods of Transmission

Today, the most common means HIV is passed from ane person to another are:

Re-using and sharing needles or other equipment for injecting drugs (including steroids or hormones)
Unprotected/dangerous vaginal or anal sexual activity, which means:
- sex without using condoms or other barriers, such equally dental dams
- sex when an HIV-negative partner is not taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) every bit prevention
- sex when a partner living with HIV is non taking HIV drugs and/or has a detectable viral load, and none of the prevention tools above are used
Perinatal or mother-to-child (during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding)

For more detailed data about how HIV drugs prevent HIV transmission, please see our fact sail on HIV Treatment every bit Prevention.

Re-using and Sharing Needles

Injecting drugs (including steroids or hormones): Many people become HIV when they share the equipment used to inject heroin, methamphetamines, steroids, hormones, or other substances. Re-using syringes, needles, h2o, spoons, "cookers," or "cottons" tin spread HIV. Be certain to apply new syringes and needles merely from reliable sources, such as needle exchange programs or pharmacies. Some cities offer costless needle and syringe substitution programs. For more information, see our fact sheet on Cleaning Equipment for Injecting Drugs.
Tattoos or body piercings: Tattoos or trunk piercings should ever be done by a licensed professional whose equipment, including ink, is sterile. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends instruments be used simply once and then thrown abroad. Reusable instruments must be sterilized between uses. Using alcohol to make clean instruments is not enough. Proper sterilization means that instruments are treated with steam, or autoclaved.

Unprotected/Unsafe Sexual activity

Unsafe sexual activity is sex without condoms or other barriers, and without using HIV treatment-every bit-prevention methods. Dangerous sexual practice can put y'all and/or your partner at risk for HIV or other sexually transmitted infections or diseases (STIs or STDs). Safer sex (sex using condoms, other barriers, and/or treatment-equally-prevention methods consistently and correctly) is the about effective way to protect yourself and your partner.

Taking HIV drugs tin be a role of safer sex practices. For people living with HIV, taking HIV drugs regularly can reduce their viral load to undetectable levels. This reduces the risk of HIV transmission to others. Achieving and keeping an undetectable viral load makes information technology impossible for their blood, vaginal fluids, and semen (cum) to pass HIV on to others.

For people who are HIV-negative, taking HIV drugs as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce the chance of acquiring HIV. For more than data, delight see our fact sheet on PrEP for Women.

These methods are part of what is known every bit HIV treatment equally prevention (TasP). TasP does not prevent transmission of other STIs or STDs.

Barriers, such as condoms (male and female), dental dams (thin squares of latex), and latex or nitrile gloves, also profoundly reduce the risk of HIV (or other STI) manual through sex (oral, anal, or vaginal).

Which mutual sexual activities are most likely to transmit HIV when safer sex is not used? Listed from virtually to least risky:

Receptive anal sex activity ("bottoming"): Taking a penis through one's anus ("barrel") and into one'southward rectum remains the riskiest action. This is and so considering small tears in the rectum are probable; these tears allow semen ("cum") to come into straight contact with the bloodstream.
Receptive vaginal intercourse: This refers to taking a penis into one's vagina. HIV is transmitted from men to women much more easily than from women to men.
Insertive anal sex ("topping"): Putting a penis into someone else's anus and rectum can expose yous to HIV
Insertive vaginal intercourse: Putting a penis into a vagina, peculiarly when the woman is menstruating, can expose yous to HIV
Giving oral sex: Using your mouth to lick, suck, or bite another person's genitals (penis, vagina, or anus) can betrayal you lot to HIV. Swallowing semen ("cum"), licking menstrual blood, and having bleeding gums, mouth ulcers, or glue disease volition increase your risk of getting HIV.
Receiving oral sex: Having your genitals licked, sucked, or bitten is less risky than giving oral sex activity. Withal, you can get HIV from your partner, especially if your partner has bleeding gums, oral fissure ulcers, or gum illness.
Sharing sex toys without sterilizing them or using a new condom: This can allow HIV to be transmitted from the first partner to the next 1 who uses the toy
Mutual masturbation (manus jobs), fingering, and fisting (using a hand to penetrate the anus or vagina): These are extremely low run a risk, as long equally your hand has no open up cuts or sores

Sexual set on or rape (including by an intimate partner) can result in transmission if the assaulter is living with HIV. The gamble increases when rape involves anal penetration, force, and/or multiple attackers. Some forced sexual acts that crusade wounds can place a victim at very high adventure.

Survivors of sexual assault or rape who are not already living with HIV should be routinely offered PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis; also called non-occupational PEP, or nPEP) in emergency rooms. This 28-solar day treatment with HIV drugs greatly reduces the chances of acquiring HIV. PEP is another form of TasP.

To be effective, PEP must be started inside the first 72 hours of exposure. The earlier handling is started, the more effective it will exist. If PEP is non offered in the emergency room or clinic after a rape or sexual assault, do not be agape to inquire for it.

PrEP, another form of TasP discussed to a higher place, is a prevention method that can exist used without a partner being enlightened of information technology. For women who cannot ask their partner to employ a condom because of the threat of violence from their partner, PrEP can allow a woman to protect herself from acquiring HIV without her partner knowing.

Of import: If yous are feeling threatened correct now, call 911 in the US or the National Domestic Violence hotline in the US at 800-799-Safety [ane-800-799-7233; or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)]. You can likewise search for a safe space online at Domestic Shelters.

Perinatal Manual

Women living with HIV tin pass the virus to their babies while pregnant, during birth, or by breastfeeding. This is called perinatal or vertical transmission and is also known as mother-to-kid transmission. Medical care and HIV drugs given during pregnancy can virtually eliminate the risk of a infant getting HIV from its mother.

In resource-rich countries such as the Usa, the World Health Organization recommends that mothers living with HIV not breastfeed their babies. In other countries, where formula is unavailable or clean water sources are unreliable, it recommends that mothers breastfeed their babies exclusively (no mixed feeding, such every bit some chest milk and some gripe or sugar water). It is also important not to feed your baby food that has been chewed past someone who is living with HIV (pre-masticated). This can transmit HIV to your child. For more data, run across our fact canvass Tin can I Breastfeed While Living With HIV? An Overview of Baby Feeding Options.

Other Types of Transmission

In the past, HIV was spread by transfusion with claret products, such as whole blood or the "cistron" used past hemophiliacs. Many people acquired HIV this way. The blood supply is now much more strictly tested and controlled in most countries. The odds of acquiring HIV from receiving blood or blood factor in countries like the United states, the U.k., and Canada are extremely depression. For case, statistics from the US testify that a person is more likely to be killed past a lightning strike than they are to acquire HIV from a blood transfusion. However, non every state screens all blood donations for HIV.

It is likewise possible to get HIV from peel grafts or transplanted organs taken from people living with HIV. Again, the take chances is considered very low, every bit these "bodily products" must be strictly tested in the same style as blood products. Semen donations collected by sperm banks for artificial insemination are also considered "actual products" and rigorously tested in high-resources countries. Individual semen samples that are non candy by sperm banks or similar organizations may non have been tested. It is important for anyone receiving a private donor'south sperm for artificial insemination to have the donor tested for HIV.

Some people, mostly health care workers, acquire HIV past accidentally sticking themselves with a needle (needle stick) with infected claret, or through other medical accidents. This is a very small pct of overall seroconversions. According to the U.s. Centers of Disease Command and Prevention (CDC), merely three in every ane,000 exposures to HIV-infected blood at piece of work, if left untreated, will result in the worker acquiring HIV. When exposed to fluid or bodily products that may comport HIV while on the job, health care workers should be offered occupational post-exposure prophylaxis (oPEP) immediately.

If you are getting breast milk from a milk bank, it is important to ask if the bank tests the milk for HIV. Also, if your baby is getting chest milk from a moisture nurse, information technology is important to make certain that she tests negative for HIV before giving her milk to your infant.

Avoiding Transmission

HIV cannot exist transmitted except when certain body fluids are exchanged. You can greatly reduce the risk of transmission by:

Knowing your HIV status and then you can have steps to avoid transmitting HIV if you lot are living with the virus; for more information, see our fact canvass on HIV Testing
Staying on your HIV drug regimen if y'all are living with HIV. Having an undetectable viral load prevents HIV transmission to sexual partners
Practicing safer sexual activity, including taking PrEP
Using new or clean needles and other equipment for whatsoever injections
Not having sexual activity
Not injecting drugs

Y'all do not need to be agape of getting or passing HIV by coincidental contact. Remember, HIV is non transmitted by:

Hugs
Dancing
Sharing food or drinks
Using a toilet, shower, bathroom, or bed
Kissing
Sharing do equipment
Bug bites