
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a virus that assaults the immune system, is transmissible through blood, semen, vaginal and rectal secretions, etc., which consist of HIV antibodies in high concentrations. This Buzzle article discusses a few facts about HIV and its transmission.
Did You Know?
Studies suggest that for every 10,000 exposures, the risk of an HIV-infected person transmitting the infection to another is negligible during activities such as biting, spitting, throwing semen or saliva, and sharing sex toys.
The general tendency is to assume that you contract AIDS as soon as you are exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus. Many people wrongly assume that having sexual intercourse just once with an infected person is enough to get you infected. However, these notions only arise from insufficient knowledge and the justified fear of the dreadful disease. Contrary to what most people think, HIV transmission rates are very low at a single instance of exposure, and are mostly dependent upon the volume of body fluid transmitted and the density of HIV in the fluid. The virus is more concentrated in the cervical, vaginal secretions, semen, and blood. It is comparatively lower in tears, saliva, sweat, or other body fluids.
How is HIV Transmitted
HIV can be transmitted from one person to another in the following ways:
✦ From an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding
✦ Injury due to infected needle stick
✦ Infected blood transfusion
✦ Bite of an infected person
✦ Male-to-male sexual contact
✦ Male-to-female sexual contact
✦ Contact between wounds or mucous membranes and HIV-infected blood or body fluids
✦ Exchange of blood while kissing an infected person, who is having bleeding gums or sores
HIV Contraction Statistics
According to the CDC, the estimated HIV transmission risk per 10,000 exposures for various types of activities is presented in the following table:
Activity | Risk per 10,000 Exposures |
Blood Transfusion | 9,250 |
Sharing syringes while injecting drugs | 63 |
Needle stick injury | 23 |
Anal intercourse (Receptive) | 138 |
Anal intercourse (Insertive) | 11 |
Penile-vaginal intercourse (Receptive) | 8 |
Penile-vaginal intercourse (Insertive) | 4 |
Oral intercourse (Receptive) | Low |
Oral intercourse (Insertive) | Low |
Biting and kissing | Extremely low |
Since there is no permanent cure for HIV/AIDS, the best cure is to prevent it altogether. Encouraging people to have safe sex is one way of preventing the rapid spread of this dreadful disease. Remember, these statistics just provide mathematical figures based on the average, but you may be at a far greater risk in the real world.