Prevention of HIV infection

Prevention of HIV infection Casual sexual activities, use of drugs (injection) and blood contact are the major causes of HIV infection. Babies can be born with HIV infection. With no treatment, about 25% of the babies of HIV-infected women would be born infected. The risk drops to about 2% if a woman takes AZT (Chemical Name: Azidothymidine, Generic Name: Zidovudine, Nick Name: AZT, Brand Name: Retrovir ? (Retrovis ?), Manufacturer: Glaxo-SmithKline) during pregnancy and delivery, and then her newborn is given AZT, and if the baby is delivered by Caesarian section (C-section.). Babies can get infected if they drink breast milk from an HIV-infected woman. Women with HIV should use baby formulas or breast milk from a woman who is not infected to feed their babies. The following are explanations that are helpful for understanding prevention of HIV infection. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) does not spread easily. You can only get HIV if you get infected blood or sexual fluids into your system. (Hence safe sex and avoiding drug are most important) You can't get it from mosquito bites, coughing or sneezing, sharing household items, or swimming in the same pool as someone with HIV. (Hence never justified to be hostile to the unfortunate HIV-infected people) Some people talk about "shared body fluids" being risky for HIV, but no documented cases of HIV have been caused by sweat, saliva or tears. However, even small amounts of blood in your mouth might transmit HIV during kissing or oral sex. Blood can come from flossing your teeth, or from sores caused by gum disease, or by eating very hot or sharp, pointed food. To infect someone, the virus has to get past the body's defenses. These include skin and saliva. If your skin is not broken or cut, it protects you against infection from blood or sexual fluids. Saliva contains chemicals that can help kill HIV in your mouth. If HIV-infected blood or sexual fluid gets inside your body, you can get infected. This can happen through an open sore or wound, during sexual activity, or if you share equipment to inject drugs..