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Identifying Opportunities to Block HIV-1 Transmission in the Female Genital Tract

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Encyclopedia of AIDS

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Definition

HIV-1 transmission is both inefficient and heterogeneous, and host factors that prevent and/or facilitate viral acquisition in HIV-uninfected individuals hold the key to better biomedical prevention. This review will highlight some of the factors influencing HIV transmission via the female genital tract.

Background to the Problem

HIV is predominantly transmitted during sexual intercourse (HIV-1 Sexual Transmission), with young women having the highest risk of HIV infection in parts of the world that are severely impacted by the pandemic (Abdool Karim et al. 2011b). Despite the size of the current HIV pandemic, HIV is relatively inefficient at infecting susceptible target cells across the genital mucosa of women, with estimated per-coital transmission rates as low as 1 per 1,000 contacts (Powers et al. 2008). This suggests that natural barriers to HIV infection within the mucosal surfaces of the female genital tract are generally effective. To gain entry via mucosal...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mucosal Immunology Laboratory, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban, South Africa

    Lyle R. McKinnon & Jo-Ann S. Passmore

  2. Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine (IDMM), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Jo-Ann S. Passmore

  3. National Health Laboratory Services, Cape Town, South Africa

    Jo-Ann S. Passmore

Authors
  1. Lyle R. McKinnon
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  2. Jo-Ann S. Passmore
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Correspondence to Lyle R. McKinnon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Cell & Molecular Biology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Thomas J. Hope

  2. Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Mario Stevenson

  3. University of California, San Diego Dept. Pathology, La Jolla, California, USA

    Douglas Richman

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McKinnon, L.R., Passmore, JA.S. (2014). Identifying Opportunities to Block HIV-1 Transmission in the Female Genital Tract. In: Hope, T., Stevenson, M., Richman, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of AIDS. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_138-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_138-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9610-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Identifying Opportunities to Block HIV-1 Transmission in the Female Genital Tract
    Published:
    30 September 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_138-1

  2. Original

    Inflammatory Cytokines
    Published:
    29 September 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_302-1

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