Page 104 - 2020 ARE eGuide for Clinical at Nonhospital Sites

HIV: Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus

The human immuno-deficiency virus is the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS). While currently there is no cure, treatment of HIV continues to improve, enhancing both
the length and quality of life of individuals infected with the virus.

Transmission of HIV
occurs when blood, semen,
or vaginal secretions of a
person infected with HIV
enter the body of another
person. Other bodily fluids
such as peritoneal fluid can
contain HIV.

Transmission can occur in work settings by being stuck or cut with infected needles or sharps,
or exposure to blood and other potentially infected bodily fluids through splashes or spills on
non-intact skin or mucous membranes (mouth, nose, eyes, etc.)

HIV transmission more frequently occurs in personal settings. This can
occur through unprotected sex with an infected person, sharing
HIV-infected needles while using drugs, tattooing, or body piercing.
HIV-infected pregnant women can also transmit the virus to their
children before birth, during birth, and after birth through breast-
feeding.
Symptoms of initial HIV infection can be much like the flu but are
different in two ways. First, they last longer than a typical flu,
sometimes weeks or months. Second, they are unexplained; no one
else around has the symptoms or gets them.