The risk varies, depending on:

• whether the other person has an infection,
• what type of virus they’re infected with,
• which body fluids you come into contact with, and
• how you come into contact with the body fluids.

Which infections can be passed on?

Blood and other body fluids can pass on infections such as:

• hepatitis B,
• hepatitis C, and
• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).

Depending on the infection, an infected person may have few symptoms or none at all and therefore may not know that they’re infected.

Which body fluids can pass on infections?

Body fluids that can pass on infections include:

• blood,
• semen,
• vaginal secretions,
• amniotic fluid (the fluid in the womb that the unborn baby floats in),
• breast milk, and
• saliva that contains blood.

Higher risk of infection

There’s a higher risk of infection if you have contact with:

• blood,
• body fluids such as those listed above, or
• any other body fluid that contains blood.

The risk is also higher with some injuries that break your skin (percutaneous injuries). For example, there’s a higher risk if:

• you puncture your skin with a used needle or other sharp object, or
• an infected person bites or scratches you and breaks your skin.

However, even though these injuries increase the risk, they don’t always result in an infection being passed on.

Lower risk of infection

The risk of infection is lower if body fluids come into contact with your eyes, mouth, nose or broken skin. For example, if someone spits in your face, their saliva may get in your eyes, mouth or nose. Or your skin may be broken from cuts, grazes or scratches, other than scratches from an infected person (see above), or a skin condition such as eczema.

For healthcare workers, after an exposure like this, the risk of infection with HIV is estimated at one in 1,000. There is currently no evidence on the risks for hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Very low risk of infection

The risk of infection is very low if infected body fluids come into contact with unbroken (intact) skin. No cases of HIV infection have been recorded in healthcare workers after contact of HIV blood with unbroken skin.

The risk is also very low if you have contact with saliva that does not contain blood, regardless of where the saliva touches you. However, glandular fever can be passed on through contact with an infected person’s saliva.

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