Although great progress has been made in treating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), the best way to battle infection is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. The following steps can be taken to reduce the risk of contracting HIV. These include:

• Practicing safe sex. People should not engage in unprotected sex (vaginal, anal, oral) unless they are certain that their partner does not have HIV. Latex or polyurethane condoms are the best protection – aside from abstinence – from HIV, although the virus still can be transmitted if a condom breaks. Lambskin condoms do not protect against HIV. Also, only water-based lubricants should be used during protected sex because oil-based lubricants can weaken condoms. Dental dams, which are made of medical-grade latex, should be used during oral sex. Female condoms can also help block the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but are not as effective as male condoms.
  
  Other birth control devices such as birth control pills, diaphragms, injections and contraceptive implants will not protect anyone from contracting or transmitting HIV or any other STD.
  
  
• Exercising caution when using blood supplies in other countries. Though the blood supply is screened in the United States, this is not the case in all countries. People who have blood transfusions in another country should be tested for HIV upon their return to the United States.
  
  
• Scheduling regular physical examinations and tests. In general, sexually active people should have regular HIV tests. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that all people between the ages of 13 and 64 should be tested. Women should have a yearly Pap smear and people who engage in anal sex should have regular tests for anal cancer.
  
  
• Not sharing needles during intravenous drug use. The safest behavior for drug addicts is to seek help for their addiction. However, those who continue to use drugs should not share needles with other addicts. Sharing a needle with an HIV-infected addict dramatically increases the risk of contracting HIV.

It is important to note that HIV patients should use HIV prevention methods even when their partner is also infected. These steps are necessary because people can carry different strains of the virus, and different strains can operate differently in the body or be resistant to different anti-HIV medications.

Pregnant women who are diagnosed with HIV should seek immediate treatment for the virus. The use of a drug called zidovudine (ZDV or AZT) can substantially decrease a mother’s risk of passing the virus on to her baby, a condition known as perinatal transmission. In addition, most physicians follow the recommendations of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), which state that women who have HIV or AIDS should use formula instead of breast milk when feeding their babies.