HIV/AIDS Causes & Risk Factors Can HIV Be Spread Through Casual Contact? Doubts persist even when risk is statistically zero By Mark Cichocki, RN twitter linkedin Mark Cichocki, RN, is an HIV/AIDS nurse educator at the University of Michigan Health System for more than 20 years. Learn about our editorial process Mark Cichocki, RN Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Latesha Elopre, MD, MSPH on May 17, 2020 linkedin Latesha Elopre, MD, is a board-certified internist specializing in HIV and an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Learn about our Medical Review Board Latesha Elopre, MD, MSPH Updated on December 09, 2020 Print Despite increased public awareness about HIV, there remains a lot of confusion about how you can get infected and how you cannot. For example, even though people understand that you can't get HIV from utensils, there are many who will experience a twinge of concern if they learned that the chef of their favorite restaurant has HIV. James Gathany / CDC Public Health Image HIV has a way of spurring anxieties in even the best of us and, with it, our sense of reason. Relieving those anxieties often requires us to do more than just lay out the rules. Instead, we need to understand what conditions are required for an infection to take place and why things like hugging, touching, sneezing, or kissing simply do not satisfy those conditions. 4 Conditions Needed to Transmit HIV As serious an infection as HIV is, the virus itself is not all that robust. Others, like the flu and cold viruses, are far more sturdy and can be passed from one person to next by sneezing. HIV cannot. Instead, there four conditions that must take place in order for infection to occur: There must be body fluids in which HIV can thrive. For HIV, this means semen, blood, vaginal fluids, or breast milk. HIV cannot survive for very long in the open air or in parts of the body where is high acid content (such as the stomach or bladder).There must be a way for body fluids to enter the body. This happens primarily through sexual contact but can also be spread through shared needles, accidental blood exposure in healthcare settings, or transmission of the virus from mother to child during pregnancy.The virus must be able to reach vulnerable cells inside the body. Skin contact with a body fluid is not enough. It needs to enter the bloodstream through a break in the skin or penetrate vulnerable mucosal tissues of the vagina or rectum. The depth and size of the penetration also matter, with a deep cut being riskier than a scrape.There must be sufficient amounts of virus in the body fluid. This is why saliva, sweat, and tears are unlikely sources of infection since the enzymes in these fluids actively break down HIV and its genetic structure. How HIV Cannot Be Spread From both a biological and epidemiological evidence, HIV cannot and has never been shown to be passed from one person to the next by the following means: Touching, hugging, kissing or shaking handsTouching an object an HIV-positive person has touchedSharing utensils or cupsEating food prepared by an HIV-positive personSharing grooming items, even toothbrushes or razorsGetting spit on by an HIV-positive person (even in the eyes or mouth)Getting bitten by an HIV-positive person (even if blood is drawn)Touching semen or vaginal fluidGetting blood from an HIV-positive person on youUsing public fountains, toilet seats, or showers To date, there has not been a single documented case of transmission by any of these means. What to Do If You're Not Sure HIV hotlines are used to getting calls from people who are afraid they have been infected through casual contact. Perhaps the person was involved in a fight or came into contact with someone who was bleeding. Others may worry about having deep kissed someone who may or may not have HIV. While the likelihood of infection in these cases would be considered negligible to nil, people will often want a 100% guarantee that they're going to be fine; nothing less will suffice. In such cases, doctors will usually take the opportunity to perform an HIV test and perform pre- and post-test counseling to better understand what the person knows about HIV and answer any questions they might have. If there is a risk of actual transmission, however small, the doctor may opt to prescribe a 28-day course of HIV medications known as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) which may avert infection if treatment is started within 72 hours of the suspected exposure. In cases where the person's fears seem extreme and unreasonable, counseling may also be needed to address the possibility of AIDS phobia or other possible anxiety disorders. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Get information on prevention, symptoms, and treatment to better ensure a long and healthy life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Shaw GM, Hunter E. HIV transmission. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012;2(11). doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a006965 Krakower DS, Jain S, Mayer KH. Antiretrovirals for primary HIV prevention: the current status of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2015;12(1):127-38. doi:10.1007/s11904-014-0253-5 Additional Reading Hughes A, Alford K. HIV transmission: myths about casual contact and fear about medical procedures persist among older adults. J Soc Work Pub Heal. 2017;32(1):49-52. doi:10.1080/19371918.2016.1188743 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for HIV: U.S. preventive services task force recommendation statement. Rockville, Maryland; April 2013.