Acquisition and transmission of HIV.

Transmission of HIV can occur during sexual contact, through parenteral exposure to blood and blood products, and from mother to child during the perinatal period. The possibility that some previously unrecognized route of HIV transmission might exist or could occur in the future can never be entirely excluded. For this reason, epidemiologic surveillance for new transmission routes must continue. However, if such routes do exist, they appear to be so unusual that concern regarding them does not justify any change in current public health policies for dealing with HIV-infected persons or controlling the AIDS epidemic.