Hi, my name is [PRESENTER NAME]. I'm [PRESENTER ROLE]. Welcome to 
"Introduction to HIV and AIDS: What You Need to Know." This video will teach you 
information that can save your life, so please listen carefully and watch the whole video.

You've probably heard of the disease HIV/AIDS and know that HIV/AIDS can severely 
affect your life and even kill you. But what can you do to reduce your risk of contracting 
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS? If you follow the instructions in this video, you can 
reduce or eliminate your risk of contracting HIV, saving your life, the life of any current 
or future sexual partner, and if you are a woman, the lives of any future children.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It is a disease caused by the 
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). When a person becomes infected with HIV, the 
virus begins attacking the person's immune system, specifically their white blood cells 
called T cells or CD4 cells. Initially, and sometimes for many years, the person may show 
no symptoms of being ill at all. They may appear perfectly healthy. You cannot tell 
whether a person has HIV by looking at them. A person can be infected with HIV and not 
even know it. It can take up to six months after being infected with HIV for ordinary tests 
to show that you are HIV positive. After a person has contracted HIV, even before they 
test positive, it's possible for them to pass on the infection to others.

The uninfected individual has about 800 to 1000 T cells. (Remember that these are the 
immune fighting cells.) If HIV does enough damage to the person's immune system, the 
person's T cells will fall to a dangerously low level.  A person's diagnosis changes from 
HIV positive to AIDS when either their T cells fall below 200 or they develop an 
infection that takes advantage of their weakened immune system, called an opportunistic 
infection.   

T cells are one of the body's defense mechanisms against infection by bacteria, viruses, 
fungi, and parasites. So when a person's T cell count falls too low, they become 
vulnerable to infections that a healthy person's immune system would fight off. This is 
why people with end stage AIDS are often sick. They are more vulnerable to 
tuberculosis, pneumonia, and many other diseases and may die as a result of these other 
infections. And that's why we call the disease AIDS: as a result of contracting the virus 
HIV, the person has acquired an immune deficiency.

So you know that the virus called HIV causes the disease known as AIDS, and that AIDS 
can severely affect or even kill you. How does HIV spread?

Fortunately, HIV does not spread easily. You can't catch it by shaking a person's hand. It 
can't be spread by a sneeze or a cough, or even by light kissing. So you don't need to 
worry about catching HIV if you have friends, family members, or coworkers with AIDS.

HIV is present in an infected person's blood, an infected man's ejaculation fluid called 
semen, an infected woman's vaginal fluids, and breast milk. HIV is not found in 
significant quantities in tears, sweat, or saliva. HIV spreads when one person's body 
fluids come in direct contact with another person's mucous membranes.  Examples of 
mucous membranes include the eyes, nose, mouth, and genitals. Less commonly, HIV 
can also spread when one person's body fluids come in contact with a break in another 
person's skin. Though there are other means of transmission, there are four primary ways 
that HIV can spread from one person to another. They are sexual contact, sharing of 
needles by injection drug users, mother to child transmission during pregnancy or 
through breast milk, and receiving infected blood during a blood transfusion. There have 
also been cases of accidental exposure to HIV positive blood of health care workers. 
Let's talk about each of the primary transmission methods.

Sexual contact. This is by far the most common way that HIV spreads. HIV is present in 
the semen of an infected man and in the vaginal fluids of an infected woman. When two 
people have sex and exchange body fluids, HIV may spread from one partner to the 
other.  Anal sex is riskier than vaginal sex because the anal tissue is more prone to tearing 
during sex than the vaginal tissue.  HIV is also transmitted through oral sex, though it is 
much less common.  However, if you contract HIV through oral sex, transmission is 
100% for you.  Additionally, women who have sex with women who are HIV positive 
are also at risk of becoming infected through vaginal secretions, though it is much less 
common.  Whether you have sex with men or women, the more sexual partners you have, 
the greater your risk of contracting HIV.

What about sharing of needles by injection drug users? HIV is present in the blood of 
an infected person. If a person with HIV uses a needle to inject a drug, some of their 
blood gets in and on the needle. If another person uses that same dirty needle, the other 
person may contract HIV as a result.  If you inject drugs, the best way to avoid 
contracting HIV is to use your own needles and not share them.

What about mother to child transmission? If a pregnant woman has HIV, she places 
the unborn child at risk for infection, most commonly while passing through the birth 
canal, when the mucous membranes of the infant come in contact with the mother's 
infected vaginal secretion.  After birth, if the child breastfeeds, they may become HIV 
positive through infected breast milk. A woman can reduce the risk of transmitting HIV 
to her baby by using antiretroviral drugs under a doctor's direction.

What about receiving a transfusion of blood infected with HIV? Early on during the 
HIV /AIDS epidemic, some people contracted HIV as a result of receiving blood 
transfusions from infected people. Today in the United States and most developed 
nations, blood donors are screened for HIV risk factors, and all donated blood is tested 
for HIV, so the risk of contracting HIV via a blood transfusion is extremely low. It's also 
important to realize that you cannot contract HIV by giving blood, only by receiving it.

So the virus HIV causes the disease known as AIDS, and it can spread via sex, needle 
sharing, mother to child, or blood transfusion. But what can you do to reduce or eliminate 
your risk of contracting HIV?

Sexual contact is the most common way HIV spreads. To reduce your risk of contracting 
HIV through sexual contact, remember your ABCs: Abstain from sex before marriage, 
Be faithful to a single partner if you are sexually active, and use a latex Condom every 
time you have sex. Of course, if you live in a culture where you do not have equal rights, 
you may not be able to follow these guidelines. Let's talk about each of these things as 
they are very important.

Abstinence from sex until marriage to an uninfected spouse, and being mutually faithful 
with your spouse after marriage, is the only way to guarantee that you will not contract 
HIV through sexual activity. If you and your spouse wait to have sex until you are 
married, you are faithful to each other, and neither of you use injection drugs, then you 
will not contract HIV through sexual activity.

If you choose to have sex before marriage, it creates a risk that you will contract HIV. 
But there are a number of things you can do to greatly reduce your risk.

If you choose to have sex before marriage, make sure that both you and your partner 
know your HIV status. Do not assume that you don't have HIV, and don't assume that 
your partner doesn't have HIV. Anyone who has been sexually active may have been 
exposed to HIV. A simple, quick blood test or oral sample where they take a swab of the 
inside of your mouth, can tell you whether you are HIV positive. In most countries, this 
test is available free of charge. Both you and your partner should know your HIV status. 
Remember that it can take up to six months after being exposed to HIV for your HIV test 
to turn positive, so you only know for sure that you are HIV negative if you have tested 
negative for HIV six months after your last possible exposure to HIV.

If you choose to have sex before marriage, be mutually faithful with a single partner. 
Being mutually faithful with a single partner reduces your risk of contracting HIV 
because it means that neither you nor your partner are exposing yourselves to other 
people who may have HIV.

Most importantly, if you choose to have sex before marriage, use a latex condom 
correctly every time you have sex, every way you have sex.  HIV can be transmitted 
through a sheep skin condom because the pores are too big.  If you are allergic to latex, 
you can use a polyurethane condom.  A latex condom is not a guarantee against HIV 
transmission, but when used correctly, it greatly reduces the risk that one partner will 
infect the other. 

This point is worth emphasizing. For a latex condom to provide the best protection 
against HIV, you must use it every time for every sexual act, even oral sex. If you only 
use a latex condom some of the times you have sex, you will still have a much higher risk 
of contracting HIV during the other times that you don't use the latex condom. It's 
possible to contract HIV even if you only have unprotected sex one time, so if you are 
sexually active, make sure you use a latex condom every time.

For a condom to provide the best protection against HIV, you must also use it correctly.  
Condoms must be stored in a cool, dark place. Do not expose them to oil-based lubricants 
like Vaseline, because they will weaken the condom. To use a condom correctly, you 
must put it on the hard penis before any contact between the penis and the partner's 
mouth, vagina, or anus. When putting the condom on the penis, leave a little extra space 
at the tip to hold the semen, and unroll the condom down the shaft all the way. Do not 
pull the condom over the penis like you would pull a sock over a foot. After the man 
ejaculates, he should hold the condom at the base of his shaft to make sure it doesn't fall 
off and immediately remove his penis from his partner before the penis becomes soft. 
This will reduce the risk that the condom will leak. Afterwards, throw the condom away. 

For oral sex on a woman, it is important to use a barrier like a square of latex, called a 
dental dam.  You can also cut the tip of a latex condom and cut it up the side to make a 
dental dam.   Never reuse a condom. There is another video on this web site that 
demonstrates how to correctly use a condom.

If you or your partner were sexually active or injected drugs before marriage, a number of 
situations need to be discussed. One of you might be HIV positive and either know it or 
not.  Additionally, though not expected, one of you may eventually have sex outside of 
the marriage or use injection drugs again.  If this is the case, it is important not to ignore 
it.  Seek counseling and, if you are not currently using condoms, begin using them.  This 
is not an easy situation and ignoring it could make it much worse.  

Also, do not use injection drugs, or if you do, make sure you never use a dirty needle to 
inject. You cannot contract HIV from a new, clean, unused, sterile needle that you just 
removed from its package. Many places have needle exchange programs where you can 
turn in dirty needles and get free new needles in return. It is extremely dangerous to use a 
needle that has already been used by another person to inject anything into your body.  
As an absolute last resort, if you are about to use a dirty needle to inject a drug, you can 
clean the needle and syringe thoroughly inside and out with bleach solution to reduce 
your risk of contracting HIV. There is another video on this web site that demonstrates 
how to clean a syringe and needle with bleach.

So you understand now that AIDS is caused by the virus called HIV, and the virus is 
transmitted through sexual contact, sharing of needles, mother to child, and blood 
transfusions. The virus is not spread by kissing, hugging, or shaking hands. The best way 
to eliminate your risk of acquiring HIV is to abstain from sexual activity and to never 
inject drugs. If you choose to be sexually active, you can reduce your risk of acquiring 
HIV by being mutually faithful with a single partner and using a condom every time you 
have sex. If you choose to inject drugs, you can reduce your risk of acquiring HIV by 
never sharing needles.

No matter who you are, you are a valuable individual, and your life matters as do the 
lives of those in your community. Take care of yourself and those around you. Make 
healthy choices that eliminate or reduce your risk of contracting HIV.

For AIDSvideos.org, this is [PRESENTER NAME].

This script was reviewed for accuracy and approved by Becky Kuhn, M.D. on April 29, 
2006.