Female-to-female transmission of human immunodeficiency virus.
Abstract
We describe a case of female-to-female transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A 20-year-old African American woman with no obvious risk factors received a diagnosis of HIV infection, and the genotype of the infecting strain closely matched that of the strain infecting her openly bisexual female partner. The route of transmission was probably use of sex toys, used vigorously enough to cause exchange of blood-tinged body fluids.
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This possibility is most directly supported by reports of shared trichomonas infections and by concordant drug-resistance genotype testing and phylogenetic linkage analysis identifying HIV transmitted sexually between women.
“This possibility is most directly supported by reports of shared trichomonas infections (293,294) and by concordant drug-resistance genotype testing and phylogenetic linkage analysis identifying HIV transmitted sexually between women (295,296).”
From Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2021 (2021) · cites this paper as [296]
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Hobson, E. K. (2025) · Signs · doi:10.1086/737474
- Authors
- Kwakwa, H. A., & Ghobrial, M. W.
- Affiliations
- Mercy Catholic Medical Center (US)
- Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kwakwa, Helena A.
- ORCID
- Kwakwa, Helena A.
- Venue
- Clinical Infectious Diseases
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2003-02
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e40-e41
- ISSN
- 1058-4838 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-6591
- OpenAlex
- W2168606211
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Virology › HIV Research and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
- Keywords
- HIV infection, bisexual women, sex toys
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Bisexuality, Female, Genotype, HIV, Humans, HIV Infections
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