How Is AIDS Passed On From One Person To Another?

HIV grows strong in bodily fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. Transmission of any of these fluids from an HIV-Positive person to a healthy person can lead to the transmission and contraction this disease. For a person to develop a matured case of AIDS, it is necessary for the HIV to enter the bloodstream. It is within the blood of the affected person where this virus gets an opportunity to attack certain cells also known as T-helper cells. These help in defending the body against attack from various potentially lethal diseases.

1.Blood:
Blood is the most common way through which HIV is passed on from one person to another. During transfusion if the infected person's blood given to a normal healthy (non-HIV-Positive) person, then the recipient is at a very great risk. Also in mouth to mouth kissing if both partners have cuts in their oral cavities and one of them is HIV-Positive, then virus can pass through the saliva into the injured person's bloodstream. HIV survives in saliva too. Another way HIV can be transmitted is through a cut. If you go to a hairdresser to get your beard shaved. If the razor or blade being used contains traces of HIV-infected blood (of a previous patron), and if the hairdresser accidentally cuts the person being shaven, then the virus can be passed on. Insist on carefully sterilized blades or brand new ones.

2.Semen And Vaginal Fluid:
Sex, one of the most pleasurable of human activities, is one of the easiest ways to transmit HIV. A man's semen enters his partners bloodstream during intercourse through a rupture in the vaginal canal. This can occur as a result vigorous intercourse or due to lack of proper lubrication. The semen harbors the HIV virus which can then easily be passed on to his female partner. The chance of an infected woman passing on the HIV to a healthy male partner is only about 25% of that of the reverse happening. It is much easier for a mans semen to find its way into a woman's bloodstream, than it is for a woman's vaginal secretion to enter her male partner's bloodstream. Usually it's through a cut in his genital area. Cuts in the male's genital region are much rarer than ruptures in a woman's vaginal canal.

3.Homosexuals-A High Risk Group:
Homosexuals are another high risk group, in addition to haemophiliacs (and drug addicts. Since men indulge in anal intercourse the walls of the rectum rupture much more easily than walls of the vaginal canal. The rectum has not been designed by nature for intercourse. This greatly increases the risk of passing on HIV during such an act.

4.Breast Milk:
Infants run a very high risk of getting infected if they are fed on breast milk of an HIV-Positive mother. As the milk consumed contains HIV it will eventually find its way into the child's bloodstream, in the normal course of the digestive process. If a child is born the mother was infected then the baby may also be born HIV-Positive.

5.Drug Addicts At An Alarming Level Of Risk:
Since Drug Addicts share needles and syringes they are at a terribly high risk of acquiring HIV. Every time an addict uses a syringe it enters his or her bloodstream, and if the syringe is shared with someone else, it enters that person's bloodstream too.