부산대학교 도서관

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is the most important health problem and leading cause of death among reproductive women worldwide. While men account for two-thirds of the cases, the proportion of women in recent years has reached 50%. Nearly half of the newly diagnosed HIV-infected women in 2016 are young women aged 15-24 years. Worldwide, the most common transmission route for women is heterosexual contact with one third of the HIV-infected women in the US being intravenous substance abusers, and 90% of those in Asia being in a single-partner relationship and in heterosexual contact with their partners. Women are more vulnerable to HIV infection for many reasons including biological factors, hormonal changes during lifetime, different clinical features, different drug toxicity and inadequate sex-based data, and sociocultural characteristics. By heterosexual contact with women, HIV transmission is twice as high as that of men, and this rate is further increased by sexually transmitted diseases, which are often asymptomatic in women. Unlike men, HIV-infected women may experience some gynecological problems and hormonal changes after having been diagnosed. While response to antiretroviral treatment is uniform in both sexes, toxicities such as lactic acidosis and metabolic problems are more frequently encountered in women. The fact that the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis is much less is related to the compliance problem. The most dramatic consequence of women’s exposure to HIV infection is HIV positive babies. With the widespread use of antiretroviral therapy, HIV-related deaths have been reduced, patients’ lifespan and quality of life have increased. As a result, the desire to have children in HIV-infected individuals is becoming increasingly widespread. In pregnant women, in whom maternal viral load cannot be detected with early treatment in developed countries, vertical transmission incidence is less than 2%, which is a good reward. The recommendations of international guidelines for antiretroviral therapy are similar in both sexes; however, there are some differences in recommendations for pregnant women. Due to the fact that HIV frequency in women has increased and awareness is low and because of various biological and psychosocial factors that leave women vulnerable to HIV, it is vitally important for each and every country to determine risk factors and improve strategies for raising HIV awareness among women.