PREVENTING HIV-1 INFECTION IN WOMEN

摘要

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, more than 36 million individuals worldwide are infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)/ many of whom are heterosexual adults of reproductive age. It is estimated that 16.4 million women are living with HIV-1 infection and another 9 million women have died of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) since the beginning of the epidemic; 47% of all adults infected with HIV-1 are women.7 Unprotected vaginal intercourse is the most common route through which women are infected with HIV-1.33 Likewise, it is well established that HIV-1 in cervi-covaginal secretions of infected women can be transmitted to male partners during intercourse and to infants during labor. While relatively little is known concerning sites of HIV infection and its regulation in the female genital tract, it is imperative to understand these mechanisms in order to develop methods to control HIV-1 transmission.