No. HIV is not transmitted by day-to-day contact in the workplace, schools, or social settings. HIV is not transmitted through shaking hands, hugging, or a casual kiss. You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, a drinking fountain, a door knob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets.

A small number of cases of transmission have been reported in which a person became infected with HIV as a result of contact with blood or other body secretions from an HIV-infected person in the household. Although contact with blood and other body substances can occur in households, transmission of HIV is rare in this setting. However, persons infected with HIV and persons providing home care for those who are HIV-infected should be fully educated and trained regarding appropriate infection-control techniques.

HIV is not an airborne or food-borne virus, and it does not live long outside the body. HIV can be found in the blood, semen, vaginal fluid, or breast milk of an infected person.

The three main ways HIV is transmitted are

• through having sex (anal, vaginal, or oral) with someone infected with HIV.
• through sharing needles and syringes with someone who has HIV.
• through exposure (in the case of infants) to HIV before or during birth, or through breast feeding.

For more information about HIV transmission, see our section: "How HIV Is (and Isn't) Transmitted". For more information about providing home care or living with a person who is HIV-infected, call the CDC National Prevention Information Network (operators of the National AIDS Clearinghouse) at 1-800-458-5231 and ask for the publication "Caring for Someone with AIDS: Information for Friends, Relatives, Household Members, and Others Who Care for a Person With AIDS at Home."