How is HIV transmitted?

• A. Through casual contact
• B. Through airborne transmission
• C. Through contaminated food
• D. Through body fluids (blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk)

Answer: (D)

HIV transmission happens when virus-containing body fluids enter another person’s bloodstream or mucous membranes. The fluids capable of carrying the virus are blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk. When exposure occurs through sexual contact, sharing needles, or from mother to child during birth or breastfeeding, the virus can pass to the other person. This is why the best answer points to those specific fluids as the transmission route.

Casual contact (like hugging or shaking hands), airborne spread, or consuming contaminated food do not transmit HIV because the virus isn’t effectively transmitted through those modes. HIV can’t survive well outside the body, and these routes don’t provide the necessary exposure to a recipient’s bloodstream or mucous membranes.