Criminal Transmission of HIV - Modes of Transmission

Modes of Transmission

Medical research has identified the following situations in which HIV may be transmitted:

• Sexual transmission where one person with an HIV infection engages in unprotected sexual intercourse with another, thus transferring the virus;
• Blood donation and transfusions or other medical procedures involving biological material such as blood, tissue, organs, or semen from an infected donor; HIV has been transmitted through the organ transplantation of kidney, liver, heart, pancreas, bone, and skin, all of which are blood-containing organs or highly vascular tissues (but not through transplantation of bone without marrow, corneas, etc.), but this mode of transmission, along with blood transfusions, has become rare since the development of accurate HIV-testing procedures.
• The use of unsterilized needles/syringes for medical, recreational drug use (including a range of drug paraphernalia), tattooing, body piercing, etc.;
• Pregnancy and postnatal transmission (e.g., breast feeding)