Yes, if the injecting equipment is contaminated with blood containing HIV. Avoid injections unless absolutely necessary. If you must have an injection, make sure the needle and syringe come straight from a sterile package or have been sterilised properly; a needle and syringe that has been cleaned and then boiled for 20 minutes is ready for reuse. Finally, if you inject drugs of whatever kind, never use anyone else's injecting equipment.

Yes, if the blood contains HIV. In many places blood is now screened for HIV before it is transfused. If you need a transfusion, try to ensure that screened blood is used. You can reduce the chances of needing a blood transfusion by taking ordinary precautions against serious injury - for example, by driving carefully, insisting on wearing a seat belt, and avoiding alcohol.

A person can have TB infection for years without any signs of disease. But if that person's immune system gets weak, the infection can quickly turn into TB disease. Also, if a person who has a weak immune system spends time with someone with infectious TB, he or she may become infected with TB bacteria and quickly develop TB disease. Because HIV infection weakens the immune system, people with TB infection and HIV infection are at very high risk of developing TB disease.

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An infected pregnant woman can transmit HIV on to her unborn baby either before or during birth. HIV can also be passed on during breastfeeding. If a woman knows that she is infected with HIV, there are drugs that she can take to greatly reduce the chances of her child becoming infected, as well as other options such as choosing to have a caesarean section delivery and not breastfeeding, as HIV is found in breast milk.

During the acute phase, a person can infect others through secretions from the nose and throat. Discharge due to coughing and sneezing can cause the virus to be transmitted easily. Young children who tend to drool can also transmit the infection through the saliva. Until the blisters dry, a person should be regarded as infectious. Fluid from the blisters contains the virus. The virus is also present in the stool for several weeks after symptoms of illness have vanished.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus, the AIDS virus) helps TB germs make you sick by attacking the germ fighters in your body. If you are infected with HIV and with TB germs, you have a very big chance of getting TB disease. The TB germs are much more likely to attack your lungs and other parts of the body. You can be cured, but it takes longer to cure someone with TB disease who also has HIV infection. If you think you might have HIV infection, talk to your doctor about getting an HIV test.

There is no need for anyone at school to know the HIV status of a student or employee. What everyone does need to understand is that the blood of any student or employee could potentially be infected with a bloodborne pathogen such as HIV or Hepatitis B, and that under normal conditions in regular educational programs, use of "Universal Precautions" is sufficient to protect against transmission of bloodborne diseases.

NO! There are many vaccines now in clinical study, however at this time, none have been tested on humans and it may be years before a viable vaccine is possible.

There is no evidence to show that mosquitoes transmit HIV. Epidemiologically, the incidence of HIV infection is the highest among the sexually active group of 15 years to 40 years. However, mosquitoes bite persons of all age groups and if they were a means of spreading HIV, the incidence of infection would be uniformly high and among all age groups.

No. Although this is a common fear, there is no evidence to support the theory that mosquitoes can transmit the Human-Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Studies by the US Centres for Disease Control and others can find no evidence that mosquitoes, or any other blood-sucking insect, can transmit HIV. In countries where both high HIV prevalence and high malaria rates exist, such as Uganda, HIV mainly affects the sexually active population.

Blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breastmilk, and other body fluids containing blood taken from HIV-positive people can contain high concentrations of HIV. The virus also might be present in the fluid surrounding the brain and the spinal cord, fluid surrounding bone joints and fluid surrounding a fetus of an HIV-positive pregnant woman. HIV has been found in the saliva and tears of some HIV-positive people but in very low quantities.

Infection from muscle relaxant injections is very rare. In its 10 years of cosmetic use, there are no documented long-term or permanent side effects.

No, there is very little risk of transmitting this infection to other people. You should wash your hands carefully with soap and water after touching or caring for the infected site.

The only weapon we have against HIV at this time is responsible behavior based on fact. HIV is passed through blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and infants can be infected from breast milk if the mother has HIV. Cleaning IV drug needles with bleach and thoroughly rinsing with fresh water and using latex condoms with a water based lubricant greatly reduces the risk of HIV infection.

The best way to reduce risk is to always use a latex condom correctly for all sexual intercourse. If you are using injectable drugs, always use a sterile needle and never use somebody else's equipment.

A safe estimate from various studies is that the time interval between actual infection and the first positive antibody test is one to three months. The difficulty in being more definitive is pinpointing exactly when a person became infected. The longest documented time from infection to a positive EIA was eight months in a nurse who was exposed in a needle-stick accident.