HIV can only live in certain body fluids. These are:
- Blood (including menstrual blood)
- Semen (and pre-cum),
- Vaginal fluids,
- Anal fluids,
- Breast Milk[1].
For HIV to be passed between people, fluid must get from one person’s body directly into the other. This means there has to be an “entry point” for the fluid to enter the body. Our skin is a very strong barrier against the HIV virus. HIV can only enter the body:
- Directly into the blood stream (though broken skin, an open sore or a point of a needle injection)
- Through a mucus membrane (Vagina, anus and penis have mucus membranes which let HIV enter the body. Other mucus membranes include: the mouth, ears, eyes and nose.
The following “activities” are most common ways that fluid passes into these entry points:
- Unprotected vaginal/anal sex
- Sharing needles- (tattooing, piercing. Steroid or injection drug use
- During pregnancy-birth or breast-feeding from parent to child[2].
Some activities are considered higher risk than others such as, unprotected sex or sharing needles, versus lower risk activities like oral sex, sex with a condom or using a new or sterilized needle.