Human Immunodeficiency Virus
What is HIV?
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS. This virus is passed from one person to another through blood-to-blood and sexual contact. In addition, infected pregnant women can pass HIV to their baby during pregnancy or delivery, as well as through breast-feeding. People with HIV have what is called HIV infection. Most of these people will develop AIDS as a result of their HIV infection.
These body fluids have been proven to spread HIV:
- Blood
- Semen
- Vaginal fluid
- Breast milk
- Other body fluids containing blood
These are additional body fluids that may transmit the virus that health care workers may come into contact with:
- Cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord
- Synovial fluid surrounding bone joints
- Amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus
How is HIV passed from one person to another?
HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen (including pre-seminal fluid, or “pre-cum”), Vaginal fluid or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person.
HIV can enter the body through a vein or muscle (e.g., injection drug use), the anus or rectum, the vagina, the penis, the mouth, other mucous membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria.
These are the most common ways that HIV is transmitted from one person to another:
- by having sexual intercourse (anal, vaginal, or oral sex) with an HIV-infected person
- by sharing needles or injection equipment with an infection drug user who is infected with HIV
- from HIV- infected women to babies before or during birth, or through breastfeeding after birth
HIV also can be transmitted through transfusions of infected blood or blood clotting factors. However, since 1985, all donated blood in the United States has been tested for HIV. Therefore, the risk of infection through transfusion of blood or blood products is extremely low. The U.S. blood supply is considered to be among the safest in the world. Some health-care workers have become infected after being stuck with needles containing HIV-infected blood or, less frequently, after infected blood contact with the worker’s open cut or through splashes into the worker’s eyes or inside their nose. There has been only one instance of patients being infected by an HIV-infected health care worker. This involved HIV transmission from an infected dentist to six patients.
What are the symptoms?
The only way to determine for sure whether you are infected is to be tested for HIV infection. You cannot rely on symptoms to know whether or not you are infected with HIV. Many people who are infected with HIV do not have any symptoms at all for many years. The following may be warning signs of infection with HIV:
- rapid weight loss
- dry cough
- recurring fever or profuse night sweats
- profound and unexplained fatigue
- swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck
- diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
- white spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth, or throat
- pneumonia
- red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
- memory loss, depression, and other neurological disorders
However, no one should assume they are infected if they have any of these symptoms. Each one of these symptoms can be related to other illnesses. Again, the only way to determine whether you are infected is to be tested for HIV infection which can be done at Women’s Clinic by calling 310-203-8899.