CAN I GET AIDS FROM KISSING?
No. Actually, AIDS is hard to catch. In order to pick up the virus from someone, you have to have their BLOOD, SEMEN or VAGINAL FLUID come in contact with your BLOOD. Unless you’re doing some pretty weird kissing, this isn’t going to happen. So kissing is safe.
Can I get AIDS from LIVING WITH someone?
If you mean sharing a house or apartment with them, the answer is no. You can share dishes, sheets and towels, bathrooms, utensils, and living space without fear. If you mean being their sexual partner, then you may be at some risk.
Can I get AIDS from sex?
YES. YES. YES. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease. Any sexual activity, which might bring blood, semen, or vaginal fluid in contact with your blood, puts you at risk. That includes vaginal and anal intercourse and oral sex.
HOWEVER, you can reduce your risk of contacting AIDS or the HIV virus by properly using a condom. This means not allowing any blood, semen or vaginal fluid to come into contact with you. While CONDOMS are not 100% safe, they are safer.
Can I get AIDS from MOSQUITOES?
Since MOSQUITOES are like "flying needles" they may bite more than one person, it might seem that this would be a way to get AIDS. But the Aids virus can only survive in a "warm-blooded host" (such as a person). Mosquitoes are "cold blooded," so they aren’t carriers.
Can I get AIDS from blood transfusions?
MAYBE. Before 1985, this was a frequent cause of the AIDS infection because the blood that was donated was not tested to see if it had been exposed to the HIV virus. Today they test 100% of the donated blood supply and the risk of receiving infected blood is greatly reduced. HOWEVER it can take up to six months for the HIV antibodies to show up in the blood, so there is still a slight risk of receiving tainted blood. If you are considering optional surgery you may be able to donate your own blood in advance for use during the operation.
Can I get AIDS from drug use?
Not from drug us in general. If you INJECT a drug, using a needle or rig that someone else has used (and it hasn’t been sterilized with several bleach rinses), you can get infected if the other person is infected. You can’t get AIDS from other kinds of drug use (such as sharing a joint, for instance). It goes without saying that there are all kinds of OTHER problems caused by using drugs.
Now might be good time to take a look at this. Give us a call at (510) 792-HELP.
Can I get AIDS from being around a person who has it?
NO. NO. NO. Unless you’re (a) Having unsafe sex with them or (b) by sharing needles or rigs with them during I.V. drug use YOU CANNOT PICK UP THEIR VIRUS. You may catch their cold, you may catch their flu, you may catch their chicken pox…..BUT YOU WILL NOT CATCH THEIR AIDS.
ARE there exceptions?
Yes. Pregnant women and nursing mothers with AIDS may pass it along to their babies. If you are reading this, YOU are safe (since you’re neither a fetus nor a nursing baby). However, if you are a pregnant woman who is carrying the virus, you should get medical attention IMMEDIATELY.
Didn’t the Masters and Johnson book prove that you can get AIDS other ways that sex or I.V. drug use?
First of all, the Masters and Johnson book didn’t make nearly all the claims many people think. Secondly, their book didn’t "prove" anything. Masters and Johnson are not AIDS experts (nor do they claim to be). People who are AIDS experts have disputed the book, finding it a substandard piece of work. The experts back up the above information, but it hasn’t been PROVEN that you can’t catch AIDS other ways.
You can’t really PROVE that you can’t catch RABIES through kissing either. All we can show is how every case was in fact caught. If you COULD catch it from kissing, it seems it would have happened at least once by now, since there are plenty of chances. Since no one HAS, science feels safe in saying you CAN’T catch it like that.
It’s the same thing with AIDS. Families with babies who are AIDS victims handle, kiss, change, share utensils, etc. without ever catching the disease. We "know" AIDS isn’t spread through casual contact the same way we know you can’t catch measles from a swimming pool.
In fact, that’s a good way to think about it. You no more have to worry about catching AIDS from a co-worker than catching measles from a swimming pool or athlete’s foot from shaking hands.