HIV & AIDS: Q & A

Q: Can you get HIV from sweat?
A: HIV has been found at low concentrations in the saliva, tears and urine of infected individuals, but there are no recorded cases of infection by these secretions and the potential risk of transmission is negligible.

Q: Is it safe to donate or receive blood products?
A: The U.S. blood supply is among the safest in the world. Nearly all people infected with HIV through blood transfusions received those transfusions before 1985, the year HIV testing began for all donated blood. The Public Health Service has recommended an approach to blood safety in the United States that includes stringent donor selection practices and the use of screening tests. U.S. blood donations have been screened for antibodies to HIV-1 since March 1985 and HIV-2 since June 1992. The p24 Antigen test was added in 1996. Blood and blood products that test positive for HIV are safely discarded and are not used for transfusions.

Q: How quickly would you test positive for HIV?
A: HIV antibodies generally do not reach noticeable levels in the blood for 1 to 3 months following infection. It may take the antibodies as long as 6 months to be produced in quantities large enough to show up in standard blood tests. Hence, to determine whether you have been recently infected (acute infection), your health care provider can screen you for the presence of HIV genetic material.

Q: Need more information?
A: You can find out more about HIV & AIDS by contacting the CDC at 1-800-232-4636 or on the internet at http://www.cdc.gov/.

(http://www.cdc.gov/)