부산대학교 도서관

HIV-infected women in a rural community studied were most likely to have acquired the virus through heterosexual intercourse. Women are increasingly becoming infected with HIV, and while most of them live in large, urban areas, 27% now are from rural areas. Of 1,011 pregnant women from an agricultural area of Florida, 52 (5.1%) were found to be HIV-positive. The highest infection rate, 8.3%, was among non-Haitian, non-Hispanic black women. In urban areas, most HIV-infected women are intravenous drug users, but in this study only four, all of whom were HIV-negative, claimed to have ever injected drugs. Of the 43 crack cocaine users, however, 14 were HIV-positive. In addition to crack use, sex with more than two partners or a high risk partner and syphilis infection were all associated with HIV infection. Still, 21% of the HIV-infected women reported none of these risk factors. These findings may be useful in designing HIV awareness programs for rural areas.