HIV in Women: How It Spreads and How It Affects Women Differently

HIV — human immunodeficiency virus — damages the immune system by destroying a type of white blood cell that helps the body fight infection, leaving people open to other infections and diseases.

How it spreads

• Unprotected vaginal or anal sex with someone who has HIV — "unprotected" meaning without condoms or medicine to treat or prevent HIV. This is the most common route. Anal sex is the riskiest, because the thin lining of the rectum may let the virus in; in vaginal sex, it can enter through the delicate lining of the vagina and cervix.
• Rarely, oral sex with someone who has HIV.
• Sharing drug needles.
• Contact with the blood of someone who has HIV.
• Mother to child — during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

How it affects women differently

About one in four people with HIV in the United States are women, and they face some problems men do not:

• complications such as repeated vaginal yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis and severe pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
• higher risk of cervical cancer
• menstrual cycle problems
• higher risk of osteoporosis
• higher risk of heart disease, especially heart attacks
• earlier menopause or more severe hot flashes
• different, sometimes more severe, side effects from HIV medicines
• interactions between some HIV medicines and hormonal birth control
• the risk of passing HIV to a baby during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding

Treatment

There is no cure, but many medicines treat HIV and the infections and cancers that come with it. People who start treatment early can live longer, healthier lives.

Sources

• MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, "HIV in Women." https://medlineplus.gov/hivinwomen.html
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.