High Risk of HIV Transmission During Pregnancy

Women in Africa who are pregnant, have a higher risk of contracting HIV if during pregnancy still have sex with their partners. Pregnant women have a two times higher risk of HIV transmission.

This was revealed in a study by the University of Nairobi, on more than 3300 couples who were diagnosed HIV positive. The number of infected patients included 1085 men and 2236 women.

According to HealthDay, research was conducted in Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zamibia, Tanzania and South Africa. In observations over two years, 823 pregnancies occur in pairs.

The increase occurred both in transmission risk from male to female, or the opposite. However, according to the study, the effect on the transmission from women to men is more powerful and real.

Presumably this is related to physiological and immunological changes in women during pregnancy, which certainly has not been revealed in this study. What is clear, the increased risk of HIV is not influenced by circumcision of the man, nor the use of safety devices during intercourse.

While in women the increased risk is caused more by factors related to pregnancy itself. Among these include changes in sexual behavior during pregnancy.

These findings will be presented at the International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh.