Facts about HIV

HIV can only be passed from person to person through blood or other body fluids.

The most common way HIV gets passed on is through people having sex without a condom.

HIV can also be passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, at the time of birth or through breastfeeding.

The virus can also be spread through infected blood getting into another person's blood stream, for example from a needle with infected blood on it.

In the early days, people thought HIV could be spread from person to person in other ways. This is not the case.

Common misconceptions about how you can be infected include drinking from a dirty mug, holding someone's sweaty hand, kissing, from a toilet seat and from being near someone with HIV.