HIV Infection in Women
What are HIV and AIDS?
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) attacks the body's immune system. A healthy immune system is what keeps you from getting sick.
Because HIV damages your immune system, you are more likely to get sick from bacteria and viruses. It is also harder for your body to fight off these infections when you do get them, so you may have trouble getting better. HIV is the condition that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
How do women become infected with HIV?
HIV can only be passed from person to person through body fluids, such as blood, semen and vaginal fluid. Children born to infected mothers can also become infected during pregnancy. The most common ways HIV is passed are:
- By having unprotected anal, vaginal or oral sex with an infected person.
- By sharing needles and syringes for injecting drugs with an infected person.
More than half of women who have HIV got the infection from sexual partners. A woman can be infected by contact with a man or contact with another woman. When a woman has sex with an infected man, she has a high risk of getting HIV if a condom is not used properly. Ask your doctor for instructions on proper use of condoms.
HIV can't live very long outside the body, so you can't get it through casual contact. You can't get the virus by touching, shaking hands, hugging, swimming in a public pool, giving blood, or using hot tubs, public toilets, telephones, doorknobs or water fountains. You also can't get it from food, mosquitoes or other insects.
Who is at risk for HIV infection?
In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, HIV infection appeared to be confined to certain groups, including intravenous drug users, men who have sex with other men and persons who have hemophilia (a blood-clotting disease that requires treatment with frequent blood transfusions). People who have hemophilia got HIV from receiving blood transfusions with donated blood that contained HIV. Blood donations are now tested for HIV, and HIV-infected blood donations are destroyed.
These days, HIV infection is much more widespread. Here is a list of people who are at high risk of HIV infection:
- Men who have sex with other men.
- Anyone who has multiple sex partners.
- Anyone who has sex with a prostitute.
- Anyone who shares needles using illegal injected drugs.
- Anyone who exchanges sex for drugs or money.
- Anyone who has a sexually transmitted disease.
- Anyone who has had or currently has a sexual partner with any of the above risk factors.
Since most people who are infected with HIV appear healthy, a blood test for the virus is necessary to see who has the infection. People who have a positive blood test for HIV are called HIV-positive. Ask your doctor how to obtain confidential testing for HIV. Your doctor can help you understand what the test results mean.
The only 100% sure way to keep from getting the AIDS virus is to not have sex at all or to have sex only with a partner who does not have HIV infection. It is also important to avoid contact with human blood and other body fluids and not sharing needles.
Is HIV infection different in women and men?
HIV infection is mostly the same for men and women. For a long time after becoming infected, the person seems healthy. Over many years, the person's immune system gradually becomes weaker until it is unable to fight off other infections.
The difference between men and women is that HIV-infected women often have additional problems such as repeated vaginal yeast infections, especially as the immune system becomes weaker. More serious infections, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (an infection of a woman's internal reproductive organs), can be harder to treat. Diseases of the cervix, such as precancer (dysplasia) and cancer, progress faster. They can be harder to treat if a woman has HIV.
What precautions can be taken to avoid getting HIV during sex?
The "safest" sex is no sex. If you are having sex, "safer" sex is sex between 2 people who don't have HIV infection, only have sex with each other and don't abuse injectable drugs.
Safer sex also means using condoms if you have any doubts about whether your partner is infected or whether he or she is having sex with someone else. Use male latex condoms every time you have sex.
If a man doesn't want to use a male condom, use a female condom. Female condoms may not be as effective as male condoms, but they offer some protection.
Never let someone else's blood, semen, urine, vaginal fluid or feces get into your anus, vagina or mouth.
How do babies get HIV from their mothers?
Babies can get HIV infection from their mothers during pregnancy, during the birth process and during breastfeeding.
It is now possible to prevent many cases of HIV in children by giving medicines to the pregnant mother and to her newborn baby. This protection cannot be offered if a pregnant woman does not know she is infected. Many people who have HIV infection feel perfectly healthy at first. The only way to know if you are infected is to have an HIV test. If you are pregnant, ask your doctor for an HIV test as part of your prenatal care. Better yet, if you are thinking about getting pregnant, talk to your doctor about HIV tests for you and your partner.
What should I do if I think I may be infected?
If you think you may be infected with HIV, contact your doctor immediately. Even though there is no cure for the disease, early diagnosis and treatment with medicines can be started to slow the progression of the disease. Your doctor will be able to give you more advice about how to take care of yourself if tests show that you have HIV.