Q: Can I get HIV from casual contact (shaking hands, hugging, using a toilet, drinking from the same glass, or the sneezing and coughing of an infected person)?

A: No. You can only get HIV from intimate contact with specific body fluids from an infected person (like blood, cum/pre-cum), vaginal fluid, or breast milk). You can't get HIV from day-to-day contact in the workplace, schools, or social settings, and you can't get HIV from shaking hands, hugging, or a casual kiss. You also can't get infected from a toilet seat, a drinking fountain, a doorknob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets. HIV is not an airborne or food-borne virus and does not live long outside the body.

A few cases have been reported where a person became infected with HIV from contact with blood or other body secretions from an HIV-infected person in a household. Although it's true that there's a slight possibility of getting HIV this way, instances of this kind of HIV transmission are rare. Still, people infected with HIV and people who provide home care for HIV-infected people should all be fully educated and trained about appropriate infection-control methods.