AIDS and human reproduction

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The alarming increase of HIV infection and AIDS in women means that more babies each year will be born with HIV infection. This publication deals systematically with the effects of HIV on human reproduction. Focus is placed on the existing correlations between HIV infection and its transmission in heterosexual activity on the one hand, and the transmission of HIV in pregnancy from the mother to the embryo-foetus on the other. The book provides important reference points in both these directions on the evolution of the AIDS epidemic in different parts of the world. It also stresses the special role played by intravenous drug addiction in contracting HIV and the co-existence of other sexually transmitted diseases (HBV, HSV 1-2, HPV) which are now spreading dramatically. Attention is also given to AIDS and fertility in males and females as well as to the marked increase of dysplasia and genital carcinomas in young HIV-positive people. Discussing in addition ethical, legal and social rights issues, the book should be of interest to professionals in gynaecology and obstetrics requiring up-to-date information on this growing medical and social problem.