Sexual Transmission of HIV

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 336; no. 15; pp. 1072 - 1078
• Main Authors: Royce, Rachel A, Seña, Arlene, Cates, Willard, Cohen, Myron S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA Massachusetts Medical Society 10.04.1997
• Subjects: AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Biology; Coitus; Disease Susceptibility; Disease Transmission, Infectious - prevention & control; Epidemiology; Female; HIV; HIV - pathogenicity; HIV Infections - transmission; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Immunodeficiencies; Immunodeficiencies. Immunoglobulinopathies; Immunopathology; Male; Medical sciences; Risk Factors; Sexual Behavior; Social Environment; Human; Immunopathology; Sexual behavior; Retroviridae; AIDS; Host; Review; Immune deficiency; Epidemiology; Contamination; Infection; Virus; Viral disease; Risk factor; Lentivirinae; Transmission mode; Human immunodeficiency virus; Public health
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199704103361507

Transmission through sexual contact accounts for 75 to 85 percent of the nearly 28 million infections with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that have occurred so far. 1 The probability of infection through sexual contact, although it varies greatly, appears to be lower than that of infection through other routes of exposure (Figure 1). The variability observed among and within routes of HIV exposure depends partly on the viral dose and also on whether the virus is transmitted directly into the blood or onto a mucous membrane. In addition, these differences are influenced by a variety of host factors, including both . . .