Female-to-Male Transmission of AIDS
- Harry W. Haverkos, MD;
- Robert Edelman, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
To the Editor.— Dr Redfield and colleagues1 have provided documentation of male-to-female transmission of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III/Lymphadenopathy-associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV).1 Their data and the data of others reviewed below indicate that female-to-male transmission is also occurring. Female-to-male transmission, in fact, could account for an appreciable amount of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among nonrisk group members.
Although the Centers for Disease Control properly claims that, "the importance of female-to-male transmission in the spread of AIDS in the United States and the role, if any, of female prostitutes in this transmission have not been established,2" we believe that female-to-male transmission is highly likely. We argue that heterosexual transmission of AIDS in both directions has occurred in Zaire and Haiti.3,4 Although the Centers for Disease Control reports only six cases in the United States where men acquired AIDS from heterosexual contact with women who used intravenous drugs or
