Risk of Acquiring HIV Increases During and After Pregnancy, Research Suggests | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Risk of Acquiring HIV Increases During and After Pregnancy, Research Suggests | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Risk of Acquiring HIV Increases During and After Pregnancy, Research Suggests

A woman’s risk of acquiring HIV through sex with a male partner living with HIV increases during pregnancy and is highest during the postpartum period, new research funded in part by NIAID suggests. Researchers observed this trend of increased risk of HIV transmission per sex act even after taking into account behavioral factors, such as condom or PrEP use. The findings, presented at the 2018 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston, suggest that biological changes during and after pregnancy may increase a woman’s HIV risk.