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Effects of HIV & AIDS on Women

There are very few symptoms of HIV infection which occur in women that do not occur in men. There are differences in the degree of severity in which these symptoms occur, however. While men may have more problems with certain aspects of HIV infection, women tend to suffer many of these symptoms more severely than men do. Women account for more than 43 percent of the HIV-positive population, a percentage that has been increasing steadily since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s.

  1. Acute Infection

    • Some individuals who have been infected with HIV show no symptoms in the months that follow infection, while others may experience flu-like symptoms that are easy to dismiss as another illness. These flu-like symptoms generally include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness and body aches; women who experience these symptoms may experience them more severely than their male counterparts. During acute HIV infection women may also notice changes in their menstrual cycle, either by starting or ending it late or by missing one or more periods.

    Psychological Symptoms

    • While some psychological symptoms of HIV infection may occur in men, they are both more common and more severe in women. Common psychological problems that occur in women with HIV include depression, anxiety, excessive forgetfulness, sexual dysfunction and dementia. Because of the viral cause of these psychological symptoms, they may be harder to treat than usual.

    Vaginal Symptoms

    • Women who are HIV positive are more likely to have frequent or persistent yeast infections than those women who are negative, and the infections are likely to be resistant to standard over-the-counter medications. Other vaginal symptoms may be more common as well, such as bacterial vaginosis and unexplained sores on or near the vagina. These symptoms may appear and disappear in conjunction with hormonal variations associated with the woman's menstrual cycle.

    Other Physical Symptoms

    • Many women who are HIV positive report troubles with chronic fatigue, even when successful antiretroviral treatment has reduced their HIV viral loads to an undetectable level. Though fatigue may appear in HIV-positive men as well, it is almost always more severe in women. Other physical symptoms may include sudden weight loss, lypodystrophy (changes in the way that body fat is distributed), night sweats and dizziness.

    STD's and Opportunistic Infections

    • HIV-positive women are more likely to contract sexually-transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, HPV, herpes and PID than negative women or HIV-positive men are. Other opportunistic infections are likely to occur as well, especially during periods where the woman's viral count is high or their CD4 immune cell count is low. Some of these infections can lead to more serious health conditions if not treated quickly, and may also result in infertility.

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