It can be transmitted through vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, sharing needles during drug use and possibly oral sex. Risk is increased depending on the number of partners you have. Current recommendations are to treat all new partners as if they had AIDS and practice safe sex. Many people can not tell you their sex history because they really do not have accurate information about their other partners. Use water-based lubricants with latex condoms.
Oil based lubricants can cause the condoms to deteriorate and break.
Open sores, lesions, abrasions or cuts increase the chance of getting AIDS if you are exposed because they provide an entry point for the virus. Engaging in sex play is even more dangerous if one or both partners has herpes or other disease-related sores, cuts, or abrasions. Kathryn Anastos, MD reported that women are 18.7 times more likely than men to get AIDS during heterosexual intercourse. One half of all adolescent females that have AIDS got it through intercourse. Tests for AIDS actually test to see if antibodies for the HIV virus are present.