Frequently Asked Questions About The Transmission Of HIV/AIDS

 

Can I Get Hiv From Getting A Tattoo Or Through Body Piercing?

A risk of HIV transmission does exist if instruments contaminated with blood are either not sterilized or disinfected or are used inappropriately between clients.  CDC (Centers For Disease Control) recommends that instruments that are intended to penetrate the skin be used only once, then disposed of or thoroughly cleaned and sterilized.

Personal service workers who do tattooing or body piercing should be educated about how HIV is transmitted and take precautions to prevent transmission of HIV and other blood born infections in their settings.  If you are considering getting a tattoo or having your body pierced, ask the staff at the establishment what procedures they use to prevent the spread of HIV and other blood born infections, such as Hepatitis B virus.  You also may call the local health department to find out what sterilization procedures are in place in the local area for these types of establishments.

Are Patients In A Dentist's Or Doctor's Office At Risk Of Getting HIV?

Although HIV transmission is possible in health care settings, it is extremely rare.  Medical experts emphasize that the careful practice of infection control procedures, including universal precautions, protects patients as well as health care providers from possible HIV infection in medical and dental offices.

In 1990,the CDC (Centers For Disease Control) reported on an HIV-infected dentist in Florida who apparently infected some of his patients while doing dental work.  Studies of viral DNA sequences linked the dentist to six of his patients who were also HIV-infected.  The CDC has yet been unable to establish how the transmission took place.

Further studies of more than 22,000 patients of 63 health care providers who were HIV-infected have found no further evidence of transmission from provider to patient in health care settings.  For more information on universal precautions or occupational risks of HIV exposure, call the CDC National Prevention Information Network (operators of the National Clearinghouse) at 1-800-458-5231

Why Is CDC Recommending That All Pregnant Women Be Tested For HIV?

There are now medical therapies available to lower the chance of an HIV-infected pregnant woman passing HIV to her infant before, during,or after birth. ZDV (zidovudine, also known as AZT or Retrovir) is the only drug which has been proven to reduce perinatal transmission.  In 1998,the U.S. Public Health Services released updated recommendations for offering antiretroviral therapy to HIV-Positive women.

HIV testing and counseling provides an opportunity for infected women to find out they are infected and to gain access to medical treatment that may help to delay disease progression.  For women who are not infected, HIV counseling provides an opportunity to learn important prevention information to reduce the possibility of future exposures.

Can I Get Infected With HIV From Mosquitoes?

The answer is No.  From the start of the HIV epidemic there has been concern about HIV transmission of the virus by biting and bloodsucking insects, such as mosquitoes.  However, studies conducted by the CDC (Centers For Disease Control) and elsewhere have shown no evidence of HIV transmission through mosquitoes or any other insects--even in areas where there are many cases of AIDS and large populations of mosquitoes.  Lack of such outbreaks, despite intense efforts to detect them, supports the conclusion that HIV is not transmitted by insects.

The results of experiments and observations of insect biting behavior indicate that when an insect bites a person, it does not inject its own or a previously bitten person's or animal's blood into the next person bitten.  Rather, it injects saliva, which acts as a lubricant so the insect can feed efficiently.  Diseases such as Yellow Fever and Malaria are transmitted through the saliva of specific species of mosquitoes.  However, HIV lives for only a short time inside an insect and, unlike organisms that are transmitted via insect bites, HIV does not reproduce (and does not survive) in insects.  Thus, even if the virus enters a mosquito or another insect, the insect does not become infected and cannot transmit HIV to the next human it bites.

There also is no reason to fear that a mosquito or other insect could transmit HIV from one person to another through HIV-infected blood left on its mouth parts.  Several reasons help explain why this is so.  First, infected people do not have constantly high levels of HIV in their blood streams.  Second, insect mouth parts retain only very small amounts of blood on their surfaces.  Finally, scientists who study insects have determined that biting insects normally do not travel from one person to the next immediately after ingesting blood.  Rather, they fly to a resting place to digest the blood meal.

Can I Get HIV From Casual Contact (shaking hands, hugging, using the toilet, drinking from the same glass or the sneezing and coughing of an infected person)?

No.  HIV is not transmitted by day-to-day contact in the workplace, schools or social settings.  HIV is not transmitted through shaking hands, hugging or a casual kiss.  You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, a drinking fountain, a door knob, dishes, drinking glasses, food or pets.

A small number of cases of transmission have been reported in which a person became infected with HIV as a result of contact with blood or other body secretions from an HIV-infected person in the household.  Although contact with blood and other body substances can occur in households transmission of HIV is rare in this setting.  However, persons infected with HIV and persons providing home care for those who are HIV-infected should be fully educated and trained regarding appropriate infection-control techniques.

HIV is not airborne or food-born virus and it does not live long outside the body.  HIV can be found in the blood, semen or vaginal fluid of an infected person.  The three main ways HIV is transmitted are:

*Through having sex (anal, vaginal, or oral) with someone infected with HIV.

*Through sharing needles and syringes with someone who has HIV.

*Through exposure (in the case of infants) to HIV before or during birth, or through breast feeding.