Can you get hiv from sharing a cigarette

No, you cannot catch HIV from kissing. Evidence shows that the HIV virus is spread through the exchange of bodily fluids such as blood, semen and vaginal fluids, but not saliva. 

Although HIV can be detected in saliva, it cannot be passed to other people through kissing because a combination of antibodies and enzymes found naturally in saliva prevent HIV infecting new cells.

How HIV is spread

The most common way that HIV is spread is through sexual intercourse, including oral and anal sex.

The virus can also be spread through sharing needles, and it can be passed from an infected pregnant woman to her unborn baby.

But steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of HIV being passed on to a baby, making transmission in this way rare in the UK.

For example, the risk of transmission can be reduced by:

  • giving antiretroviral medicine to a mother and her newborn baby
  • giving birth by caesarean section (where the baby is delivered through a cut made in the abdomen and womb)
  • not breastfeeding

You cannot catch HIV from:

  • kissing
  • giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (the "kiss of life")
  • being sneezed on by someone with HIV
  • sharing baths, towels or cutlery with someone with HIV
  • swimming in a pool that's been used by someone with HIV
  • sitting on a toilet seat that someone with HIV has sat on

Further information

  • HIV and AIDS
  • Find sexual health services
  • Terrence Higgins Trust: How HIV is transmitted
  • NAM aidsmap: HIV transmission

Page last reviewed: 23 September 2021
Next review due: 23 September 2024

HIV transmission from sharing a cigarette...

Hello there. Thank you so much taking the time to answer my question. I have a lot of anxiety about this and need someone who can tell me I'm ok. My situation was I recently shared a cigarette that was rolled by a guy and when he was making it, licked the cigarette to seal the paper. I had about seven drags of the cigarette as we passed it back and forth. Now I know saliva itself doesn't pose a risk, but I'm worried that if he had any cuts or sores in his mouth that there may have been blood mixed with his saliva and I picked it up on the end of the cigarette and that f I had any small cuts I could get hiv. On the CDC site they don't recommend deep/French kissing because if both people had cuts in their mouth one may transmit hiv to the other. Please help. I was recently tested for hiv and was fine, but now I'm worried I need to get tested again. Thank you again!

Can you get hiv from sharing a cigarette

You do not have to worry about HIV acquisition from sharing a cigarette. Different bodily fluids contain different amounts of HIV - genital fluid, blood and breast milk have high quantities of the virus. Saliva has very very small quantities of the virus so you would need a LOT of saliva to transmit the virus. Cuts increase the risk of transmission but as I have said there would have to be a lot of saliva involved. Do not stress

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Since HIV isn't found in saliva, you can't catch it through sharing a cigarette. This is why it cannot be transmitted through kissing or sharing eating utensils. You won't develop HIV if the cigarette has old or dried blood on it since HIV doesn't live long outside the body. It is possible to get HIV if there is fresh blood and you have an open wound on your tongue or mouth. However, because HIV dies relatively instantly when it comes into contact with air, this is exceedingly improbable. As a result, the virus cannot be transferred by the air or water.  HIV is only transferred or transmitted by contact with particular bodily fluids from an HIV-positive individual. Such fluids include those transmitted via sexual contact such as vaginal fluids, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, as well as blood and breast milk.

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This is a website that WE are building together. If you have a question there is no answer to on this site, send it here!

What 3 Ways Can HIV be transmitted?

Most people who get HIV get it through anal or vaginal sex, or sharing needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment (for example, cookers). But there are powerful tools that can help prevent HIV transmission.

Can you get STD from sharing cigarette?

Answer. In terms of HIV transmission, sharing blunts, weed (marijuana), cigarettes, sodas, etc., does not put you at any risk. If you are concerned about contact with other people's saliva, you might be at risk for anything transmitted via saliva (like a cold).

Can you get HIV from sharing spit?

There are no documented cases of HIV being transmitted through spitting as HIV is not transmitted through saliva.