HIV spreads through contact with  contaminated blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk from infected people.  Contact can come from unsafe sex.  It can aslso come come from sharing used needles and syringes.  Infected women can pass the cirus to their babies during pregnancy, childbirth, and breast feeding.  It is also possible to become infected with HIV through blood transfusion, although this is now very rare.

People do not get infected with HIV through casual contact with people at school, work, home or anywhere else.  The virus is not spread from contact with sweat, tears, saliva, or a casual kiss from an infected people (deep or 'Frenched' kiss is not advised).  Nor can people be infected from contact with forks, cups, clothes, phones, toilet seat, or other things used by someone who is infected.  People do not get infected from food prepared by an HIV-infected person.  People have not become infected with HIV through insect bites.