Question: What is HIV?
Answer: 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
- cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and the spinal cord
- synovial fluid surrounding bone joints
- amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus
