Risk factors HIV/AIDS can be transmitted in several ways.

Risk factors

HIV/AIDS can be transmitted in several ways. The various routes of transmission (and associated risk factors) include:

• Sexual contact. Persons at greatest risk are those who do not practice safe sex (sex with a condom), those who are not monogamous, those who engage in anal inter-course, and those who have sex with a partner with symptoms of advanced HIV infection and/or other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In the United States and Europe, most cases of sexually transmitted HIV infection arise via same sex contact, whereas in Africa the disease is spread primarily through heterosexual intercourse.
• Transmission in pregnancy. High-risk mothers include women who use intravenous drugs, women who have sex with bisexual men, women who are married to men who have an abnormal blood condition called hemophilia (a condition requiring blood transfusions), and women living in areas with a high rate of HIV infection among heterosexuals. The chances of transmitting HIV from mother to child are higher in women who are in advanced stages of the disease. Breast feeding increases the risk of transmission by 10%-20%, and vaginal delivery doubles the risk of transmitting HIV to the child. Zidovudine (AZT) given to the mother during pregnancy and given to the baby soon after delivery have been shown to decrease the risk of HIV transmission to the child