New way HIV infects women

Researchers have discovered a new way men can infect women with the deadly HIV virus.

It was previously thought the normal lining of the female vaginal tract was resistant to attack from HIV and the virus could only enter a women's body through a single layer of cells along her cervical canal.

However, after animal testing and other investigations, researchers at the Northwestern University found the virus could attack normal, healthy cells - penetrating the width of a human hair in under four hours.

This data backs other findings made by different researchers who recorded transmission among women who used diaphragms, a contraceptive device which covers the cervix, and those undergoing herpes treatment to reduce lesions in the vagina.

Latest data could change the way microbicides and HIV vaccines are developed.

Thomas Hope, principle investigator and professor of cell and molecular biology at the Feinberg School of Medicine at the University, said: "We urgently need new prevention strategies or therapeutics to block the entry of HIV through a woman's genital skin."

A total 33 million people were living with HIV in 2007, according to the World Health Organization.

More than half of new infections among heterosexuals worldwide are women.

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