In a healthy person, the T-cell count is normally more than 1,000. A few months after HIV takes hold, it drops to 800 or less. A long, gentle decline follows for a period of years. Finally, with a sudden drop to 200 or less, the full ravages of AIDS begin. Causes HIV makes its way into all the body's fluids, but only blood, semen, vaginal discharge, and breast milk contain enough of the virus to infect others.
Unprotected sex is one of the most common ways of catching the virus.
Sharing dirty drug needles is also a major threat. An infected mother can give the virus to her unborn baby before or during birth, or pass it to the infant through breastfeeding. Although blood products were a source of infection in the early '80s, they are no longer considered a danger in the United States. All of our blood and blood products have been tested for the virus since 1985. You cannot catch HIV by touching someone with the virus or by being too close when an infected person sneezes or coughs.