HIV
What is HIV?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
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HIV is a Retrovirus that attacks the body’s immune cells, which are crucial for preventing and fighting infections.
What Does HIV Do?
If left untreated, over time HIV can severely damage the body's immune system, leading to a high risk of serious infections.
How Do People Get HIV?
People get HIV through exposure to specific bodily fluids, including:​​
HIV concentration is usually highest in blood, making it the most efficient fluid for transmission by needlesticks or open wounds.
Blood
Semen can carry high levels of HIV and is considered the most common route of transmission during condomless sexual activity.
Semen
Rectal secretions contain immune cells that HIV targets. This increases the likelihood of HIV transmission during receptive anal sex (bottoming).
Rectal Fluid
Vaginal fluids can carry HIV, allowing transmission by vaginal intercourse, especially if there are are cuts or inflammation in the area.
Vaginal Fluid
HIV can be passed from a mother to her infant through breast milk during breastfeeding.
Breast Milk
How Don't People Get HIV?
Other bodily fluids—such as saliva, sweat, tears, and urine—do not typically carry enough virus to transmit HIV unless visibly contaminated with blood. Transmission through these fluids is considered negligible or non-existent in typical exposure scenarios.
The Good News
Medication available today can shut down HIV, preventing people living with HIV from getting sick and allowing them to live healthy lives.
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When people living with HIV take these medications regularly, it stops the virus from passing to others during sex.
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There are also medications that people who do not have HIV can take to stop them from getting HIV through sex or drug use. This is called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP).