AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

By name, we can understand a lot about the disease.

  It is Acquired, meaning that it must be transmitted from an outside source.

  It affects the Immune system, and causes a

  Deficiency. This means that it causes the body's natural defenses to be worn down.

  And it is a Syndrome, which means that it is a general name for a number of common symptoms.

HIV can be found in primarily four bodily fluids. It is important to remember these four bodily fluids in order to understand how HIV is transmitted.

HIV can be present in

  Blood,

  Vaginal fluids,

  Semen, and

  Breast milk.

HIV is transmitted through:

  Sharing of body fluids (Infected blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk).

  HIV can also be transmitted by sharing needles and works used to inject any substance, such as heroin, cocaine, steroids.

Ports of entry:

  Sharing blood with someone by using a needle they used into the vein, muscles, or under the skin (skin popping), or

  Having unprotected sex so that you ejaculate inside someone else, or someone comes inside you, whether it is vaginal, oral or anal sex.

  Sweat

  Tears

  Urine

  HIV can sometimes live in saliva, but it would take two gallons at once, for anyone to be infected with HIV this way.

You cannot get HIV from:

  Casual kissing, hugging, touching, or ordinary contact.

  Living with, shaking hands, or sitting next to someone with HIV.

  Sleeping in the same dorm with someone infected.

  Sharing cups and eating utensils with someone infected.

The window period is, AT MOST, 3 months.

This means that someone who has engaged in risky behavior must wait this amount of time before being tested to insure an accurate result.

It is also important to realize that this does not mean someone is not infectious during this time span.

People can infect others from the moment they themselves are infected and you will never be able to identify who is infected and who is not.

Always Take your precautions!!!

  [Abstinence: Means not having any form of sex or drug use].

Although, there are activities that other people engaged in, they said that they are FUN, ENJOYABLE, and pose NO risk of HIV infection.

Just in case if you plan to engage in any of them!!

   CASUAL KISSING
   CUDDLING
   HUGGING AND HOLDING
   TOUCHING
   MASSAGE
   MASTURBATION - solo or mutual
   TALKING
   FANTASY

For those who feel abstinence is not for them.

There are other precautions one can take to reduce the risk of being infected or re-exposed to the virus when a latex barrier or clean needles are used.

REMEMBER

The idea here is to keep body fluids from getting inside one's body during a sexual encounter. (semen, vaginal secretions, blood)

The following are activities that are considered high risk (SUPER DANGEROUS) for infection or re-exposure if engaged in WITHOUT a latex barrier:

   RECEPTIVE (receiving) anal intercourse
   INSERTIVE (giving) anal intercourse
   RECEPTIVE (receiving) vaginal intercourse
   INSERTIVE (giving) vaginal intercourse
   ORAL SEX on a man with ejaculation
   ORAL SEX on a man without ejaculation
   ORAL SEX on a woman
   ORAL-ANAL contact - rimming (not risky for HIV infection, BUT risky for other infections)

AND DO NOT FORGET TO

   Never share a needle when injecting drugs.

These tests are used for the detection of HIV antibodies in blood.

  The antibody EIA (enzyme immunoassay) or ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is the most commonly used screening test.

  The antibody Western blot is the most commonly used confirmatory test.

Clinical trials are ongoing, as well as field trials to determine efficacy, safety, tolerance, and to judge the body's immune system response to a preventative HIV vaccine.