Lesbians In The News

[Kobi]

A rare case of female-to-female HIV transmission has been found in Texas, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported on Thursday.

A 46-year-old woman allegedly acquired the virus from her female partner during their six-month sexual relationship. She was infected with a strain that had a 98% genetic match to her partner’s. According to CDC, the HIV-positive woman had not taken medication for two years.

“In this case, the discordant couple [one HIV-infected partner and one uninfected partner] routinely had direct sexual contact – without using barrier methods for protection – that involved the exchange of blood through abrasions received during sexual activity,” the CDC said in a weekly report.

The CDC noted that HIV infections in women who have sex with other women are traced to intravenous drug use or heterosexual sex. The woman newly diagnosed with HIV did not report any other risk factors, such as injection drug use, tattooing, transfusions or transplants, officials said. She did not engage in any heterosexual relationships during the past 10 years.

However not common, the infection was possible since HIV can be present in vaginal fluid and menstrual blood, and the women are said to have engaged in unprotected sex involving oral contact with vaginal fluids or inducing bleeding, and shared sex toys.
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Good reminder of why lesbians need to play safe too.