Direct Contact With Infected Blood

HIV can be spread through direct contact with infected blood:

• Through injected drugs. HIV frequently is spread among users of illegal drugs that are injected. This happens when needles or syringes contaminated with minute quantities of blood of someone infected with the virus are shared.
• In a health-care setting. Transmission from patient to health-care worker or vice-versa - via accidental sticks with contaminated needles or other medical instruments - can occur, but this is rare.
• Through a blood transfusion. Prior to the screening of blood for evidence of HIV infection and before the introduction in 1985 of heat-treating techniques to destroy HIV in blood products, HIV was transmitted through transfusions of contaminated blood or blood components. Today, because of blood screening and heat treatment, the risk of acquiring HIV from such transfusions is extremely small.