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How is HIV/AIDS affecting women?
Researchers have found that HIV and AIDS are affecting more women worldwide.
The World Health Organization reported that by the end of 2002, 19.2 million
women were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, accounting for approximately 50
percent of the 38.6 million adults living with HIV/AIDS. Studies show that women
are more vulnerable because of biological, epidemiological and social reasons.
Biologically speaking a woman is more vulnerable to heterosexual transmission
of the disease because the genitalia is easily exposed to seminal fluids.
Socially, gender inequality has some bearings on the spread of HIV/AIDS with
women. For example in some cultures many women and girls are often put in
situations were they are engaged in non-consensual sex. In the U.S. minority
communities have been hit the hardest by HIV. African American and Hispanic
women together represent less than 25% of all U.S. women, yet they account for
more than 78% of AIDS cases reported among women in our country.
Statistics
Here are a few more statistics regarding women and HIV/AIDS:
- Worldwide, 1.3 million women died of AIDS last year
- In the U.S. the proportion of AIDS cases among adolescent and
adult women more than tripled from 7% in 1985 to 25% in 2001
- Each year in the United States, approximately 40,000 new HIV
infections occur, about 70 percent among men and 30 percent among women. Of
these newly infected people, half are younger than 25 years of age.
- Transmission from men to women is two times more likely than
from women to men
Risk factors
For contracting HIV/AIDS include:
- Having unprotected sex (vaginal, anal and oral) with an infected
person
- Having sexual contact with someone not knowing their HIV status
- Sharing needles or syringes
Signs and symptoms
Early diagnosis of the HIV disease allows women to take full advantage of
treatments and medicines to reduce the degree of complications. Many symptoms of
HIV/AIDS occur in both men and women, including:
- Low-grade fevers
- Night sweats
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Large lymph nodes or "swollen glands" that may be
enlarged for more than three months
However, some conditions occur in different rates among men and women. In
some cases, women have higher rates of herpes simplex infections than men. There
are also numerous HIV-associated gynecological problems that are more specific,
many of which occur in uninfected women with less frequency or severity. Some of
these include:
- Vaginal yeast infections
- Other vaginal infections (bacterial vaginosis, gonorrhea and
other common STDs)
- Severe herpes simplex virus ulcerations
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
- Menstrual irregularities
How can HIV/AIDS be prevented?
Primary prevention of the disease is education. Women should have knowledge
of their own reproductive systems and the health risks associated with sexual
activity. Because no vaccine for HIV is available, the
only way to prevent infection by the virus is to avoid behaviors that put a
person at risk of infection. The following are ways to decrease the risk of
infection:
- Abstaining from sexual activity
- Proper use of male latex condoms or female polyurethane
condoms during oral, anal, or vaginal sex
- Knowing your partners HIV status (by repeatedly testing)
- Not sharing drug needles or syringes
If I am diagnosed can I be treated?
There is no cure for HIV. However, researchers have developed drugs to fight
both HIV infection and its associated infections and cancers within the last 10
years. There are a number of drugs currently on the market for suppressing the
HIV infection.
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