HIV - Preventions
The virus can be spread:
HIV infection is NOT spread by:
AIDS and blood or organ donation:
- Through sexual contact -- including oral, vaginal, and anal sex
- Through blood -- via blood transfusions (now extremely rare in the U.S.) or needle sharing
- From mother to child -- a pregnant woman can transmit the virus to her fetus through their shared blood circulation, or a nursing mother can transmit it to her baby in her breast milk
HIV infection is NOT spread by:
- Casual contact such as hugging
- Mosquitoes
- Participation in sports
- Touching items that were touched by a person infected with the virus
AIDS and blood or organ donation:
- AIDS is NOT transmitted to a person who DONATES blood or organs. People who donate organs are never in direct contact with people who receive them. Likewise, a person who donates blood is never in contact with the person receiving it. In all these procedures, sterile needles and instruments are used.
- However, HIV can be transmitted to a person RECEIVING blood or organs from an infected donor. To reduce this risk, blood banks and organ donor programs screen donors, blood, and tissues thoroughly.