What are high risk behaviors?

What are high risk behaviors?

Because we know that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood, semen, and vaginal secretions, it’s easy to understand that high risk behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS include:

• Current use or history of illegal drug use utilizing hypodermic syringes
• A history of having sex for drugs or money
• Having unprotected sex with a man who has had sex with another man
• Having unprotected sex with someone who currently or previously injected street drugs
• A history of multiple sex partners, or having a partner whose history includes multiple sexual partners
• Having unprotected sex with someone who has any of these risk factors

Your risk for HIV increases if you have a previous or current diagnosis of hepatitis, tuberculosis (TB), or STDs, or if you received a blood transfusion or clotting factor between 1978 and 1985 when blood was not routinely screened for HIV antibodies.

You don’t get HIV/AIDS by kissing, using the same utensils, hugging, through sweat or saliva, or the normal interactions of everyday life. While not a single case of HIV is traceable exclusively to woman-to-woman sexual activity, researchers cannot say with certainty that woman-to-woman sex is not a risk factor for HIV infection.