FAQ

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A. No. HIV is an abbreviation for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is an abbreviation for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which refers to the immunodeficiency syndrome that appears as the disease progresses after HIV infection.

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A. No. People infected with HIV are referred to as either “HIV-infected individuals” or “AIDS patients,” depending on the stage of the disease. An HIV-infected individual specifically refers to a person who has been infected with HIV but whose immune system has not been damaged and who remains healthy. However, the term is also used more broadly to refer to all people infected with HIV. An AIDS patient refers only to those among people infected with HIV whose immune system has been damaged beyond a certain level, and who show immunodeficiency symptoms such as infections caused by viruses, fungi, or parasites that rarely occur in uninfected individuals, or the development of cancers due to immune system damage. However, if there is no need to make a strict distinction, it is preferable to use the term “HIV-infected individual.”

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A. No. HIV is a very fragile virus that becomes inactivated or dies immediately once it leaves the human body. It is also sensitive to heat and is completely destroyed when exposed to temperatures of around 71°C, and it dies when body fluids dry out. HIV is particularly vulnerable to chlorine-based disinfectants and loses its infectivity immediately when exposed to chlorine concentrations as low as those found in tap water.

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A. No. Not everyone who has sexual intercourse with an HIV-infected person becomes infected. The probability of transmission through a single act of sexual intercourse is relatively low, at about 0.04–1.4%. However, since there have been cases of infection from a single sexual encounter, it is strongly recommended to always use a condom when having sexual intercourse with someone you do not know well.

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A. No. For HIV infection to occur, a sufficient amount of the virus must enter the body. HIV can be found in all human body fluids, but the only fluids that contain a sufficient amount of the virus to cause infection are semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, and blood. Saliva contains only a very small amount of the virus—about 5 particles per milliliter—so even if the saliva of an HIV-infected person enters another person’s mouth through kissing, it cannot cause HIV infection.

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A. No. If the blood or body fluids of an HIV-infected person come into contact with intact skin, there is no risk of HIV infection. However, if there are cuts on the skin or if the blood or body fluids of an HIV-infected person come into contact with mucous membranes, such as inside the mouth, there is a slight possibility of infection.

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A. No. When sharing food from the same bowl with an HIV-infected person, some may worry that the virus could mix with the food through saliva left on the infected person’s spoon and then be transmitted to others. However, HIV is not transmitted in this way. For HIV to be transmitted to another person, several conditions must be met. First, the virus must exit the body of the HIV-infected person through blood or other body fluids. Then, the virus must remain in an environment where it can survive. Next, the surviving virus must enter the other person’s body. Finally, the amount of virus that enters must be sufficient to cause infection. In light of these conditions, sharing food with an HIV-infected person does not lead to transmission. Even if the virus in their saliva were to enter the food, it cannot survive in environments such as soup or stew. Moreover, even if the virus did survive and enter another person’s body, saliva contains fewer than about 5 viral particles per milliliter — far too small an amount to cause infection — so it cannot serve as a transmission route. Based on this scientific and medical evidence, experts declare that AIDS is not transmitted through everyday daily life activities.

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A. No. HIV is called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus because it can survive and replicate only inside the human body, and it is transmitted from person to person through the blood or body fluids of an infected individual. Since HIV is not an insect-borne disease, it cannot be transmitted by mosquitoes, bugs, or other insects that bite an HIV-infected person.

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A. No. If the father is HIV-infected but the mother is not, there is no possibility of the baby being infected through vertical transmission. However, if the mother is HIV-infected and receives no treatment, the baby’s risk of infection is about 20–40%. However, even if the mother is HIV-infected, if she takes treatment properly and receives regular medical care and appropriate health management, the baby’s risk of infection can be reduced to below 5%.

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A. No. Whether HIV can be transmitted to others is determined not by the presence or absence of symptoms, but by whether the virus is present in the blood. HIV infection is characterized by a long asymptomatic period. Even if an HIV-infected person does not feel any symptoms, the latent virus is still multiplying in the body while gradually destroying immune cells. Therefore, the absence of symptoms does not mean that the virus is absent from the body, and an HIV-infected person is capable of transmitting the virus to others from the moment of infection.