title: HIV heterosexual transmission in hemophilia couples: lack of relation to T4 number, clinical diagnosis, or duration of HIV exposure.
abstract: Six (13%) of 45 female partners of 45 HIV antibody positive [Ab(+)] hemophiliacs in Western Pennsylvania have become HIV Ab(+), a mean of 10.4 months from the time of first exposure. By comparison, the mean time from first exposure to the last/recent exposure in the HIV Ab(-) female partners was 54.2 months. All six hemophiliacs who transmitted HIV to their female partners were asymptomatic, with mean T4 of 403 +/- 51/mm3 at the time of estimated seroconversion in the female; currently, their mean T4 is 203 +/- 75/mm3, which is not different from that in hemophiliac men whose partner remains HIV Ab(-) (170 +/- 22/mm3). Thus, in this population, heterosexual transmission occurs early and is unrelated to clinical or immunologic status in the hemophiliac. The risk of HIV transmission in persistently HIV Ab(-) female partners is unknown but appears low.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Ragni
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Kingsley
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nimorwicz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Rinaldo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis; D006467:Hemophilia A / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D013997:Time Factors