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AIDS Increasing in U.S. Women

The Centers for Disease Control report that AIDS cases among women in the U.S. are increasing faster than among men, and that heterosexual sex is now the leading cause of infection among women.

Between 1991 and 1995, the number of AIDS-infected women increased 63%, while it increased 12.8% for men. Women currently represent 19% of AIDS cases in the U.S. AIDS is spreading faster in the South, where there is currently a crack and syphilis epidemic. Addicts often trade sex for drugs and syphilis sores increase an individual’s the risk of AIDS infection.

Women under 25 are 2.5 times more likely to be infected through heterosexual contact than through illicit drug use, which used to be the leading cause of AIDS infection among women. The study also found that many young women had been infected by older men, and that a large age gap makes young women less likely to insist on condom use.

Minority women have been hardest hit by AIDS. Between 1991 and 1995, the rate of AIDS infection soared from 30.1 to 50.1 for every 100,000 black women and from 17.9 percent to 23.8 cases for Hispanic women.

Sources:

Nando Net and AP - September 16, 1997

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