Women and HIV 

• Most women get HIV from having 

sex with men and not using a 

condom. 

 Women from all backgrounds and 

cultures can get HIV. However, 

increasing numbers of African 

American and Latino women 

have HIV.

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You can’t get HIV by: 

 Being in the same room with 

someone who has HIV

 Sharing a knife or fork, sheets, 

toilet seats, or phones with 

someone who has HIV

 Kissing a person with HIV 

 Shaking hands with someone with 

HIV 

 Getting bitten by a mosquito or 

other bug 

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What is HIV? 

HIV stands for Human 

Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is the 

virus that causes AIDS. 

HIV is a virus that attacks your 

immune system. The immune 

system has “T cells” that help 

protect your body from disease. A 

person with HIV does not have as 

many “T cells” as a healthy person. 

HIV makes it hard for your body to 

fight off sickness. 

A person with HIV is called HIV 

positive (HIV+). 

How do you get HIV? 

•

I

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You can get HIV by: 

• Having sex with a person who is 

HIV+ and not using a condom 

• Sharing needles or syringes (“drug 

works”) with someone who has 

HIV 

• Getting blood from a person who 

has HIV 

What are the signs? 

• You cannot tell who has HIV just 

by looking at them. Most people 

do not show any outward signs 

when they first get HIV. 

• A person can spread HIV even if 

he or she does not look sick.

• An HIV test is the only way to 

know for sure if you or someone 

else has HIV. 

t may take a few weeks or months 

or the HIV to show up on a test. 

his is called the “window period”. 

his means that a person who was 

ust infected may not test positive, 

ven though they have the virus. 

uring the “window period” a 

erson can pass the virus to others. 

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2007 
Women and HIV

Always protect yourself from HIV. 

How do you get tested for HIV? 

There are three main types of tests 

or HIV: 

Blood—A small amount of blood is 

taken. 

Oral—A cotton swab is put in your 

mouth for about 2 to 5 minutes. 

Urine—A small cup of urine is 

tested. 

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How do you get treated for HIV? 

• There is no cure for HIV. 

• There are medicines that you can 

take to help stop the virus from 

building up in your body, so that 

you can stay mostly healthy. 

What should pregnant women 

know about HIV? 

• When a woman is pregnant, she 

can pass HIV to her fetus through 

her blood. 

 A pregnant woman can take 

medicine to lower the chance of 

giving her baby HIV. 

 HIV can get into her breast milk. A 

woman can pass HIV to her baby 

during breastfeeding. 

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What can you do if you are HIV+? 

• See your doctor often. 

• Take your medicine. Medicines 

must be taken regularly, or it will 

get harder to treat the virus with 

those medicines. 

• Eat a healthy, balanced diet. 

• Don’t smoke or use illegal (street) 

drugs. 

• Get regular exercise. 

FDA Office of Women’s Health http://www.fda.gov/womens 

To Learn More: 

FDA HIV/AIDS Program Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) http://www.fda.gov/oashi/aids/hiv.html 

TTY/TDD: 1-888-232-6348 

The National Women’s Health Information Center 

Phone: 1-800-994-WOMAN (1-800-994-9662) AIDSinfo 

TTY/TDD: 1-888-220-5446 http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov 

Phone: 1-800-448-0440 http://www.4woman.gov/HIV/index.htm 

TTY/TDD: 1-888-480-3739 

TAKE TIME TO CARE... For yourself, for those who need you.