Many heterosexual women with HIV report no risk factors

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), half of heterosexual women with HIV report having no risk factors. Medscape reported that these findings suggest that regular screenings for sexually transmitted diseases is particularly important in this population, as they may not even be aware that they are at risk.

Researchers say that the fact that these women believed they had no risk factors and still developed the disease may mean that their heterosexual male partners are not getting tested regularly.

"Prevention planning for women should consider age group differences in HIV risk factors; for each age group, region and race/ethnicity should also be considered," the researchers told Medscape. "Future research should evaluate the effect of late testing among injection drug users on differences in distribution of risk factors between older and younger women."

The CDC reports that in the U.S., a total of 23 percent of all HIV cases are women. Currently, one in 139 women will contract the disease in their lifetime, suggesting that even though they may have low risk factors, heterosexual women should still get tested regularly.