The highest risk factors for contracting HIV include:

• Having unprotected sex with someone who is HIV-infected
• Using needles/syringes used by someone who is HIV-infected
• Receiving blood or transplanted organs from someone who is HIV-infected (there is little risk now, since regular testing began in 1985)
• Passing HIV-infection from mothers to children through breastfeeding, pregnancy, or birth.

If you suspect that you may have HIV, or want to learn more about the symptoms of HIV/AIDS, keep reading. The next section covers "HIV symptoms" so that you can identify the common signs and symptoms of human immunodeficiency virus.