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HIV Spreads Only Through Certain Body Fluids
Definition
HIV
A virus that attacks the immune system, leading to the eventual development of AIDS if untreated.
- HIV is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and it can only pass from person to person through a few specific body fluids.
- The fluids that can carry enough virus to infect someone are blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal secretions, and breast milk.
- For infection to happen, one of these fluids must reach a mucous membrane, enter through damaged tissue, or be injected straight into the bloodstream.
Note
- Once HIV gets inside, it attacks the immune system, which is covered in C3.2.12.
- This article is only about how the virus gets from one person to another.
Four Main Routes Move HIV Between People
- Unprotected sex is the most common way HIV spreads.
- Tiny tears in the mucous membranes of the genitals or rectum let virus in infected fluid reach the bloodstream.
- Anal sex carries the highest risk because the rectal lining is thin and tears easily.
- Sharing needles or syringes passes infected blood directly from one person to another.
