Inflammation: a Friend of HIV Transmission

We’ve finally had some hot weather in B.C.  Maybe it’s safe now to get excited, and it’s definitely time to pull out the summer hats and sunscreen.  Did you know that the redness and itching that we call sunburn is actually inflammation, caused by your body’s immune response to being burned?  We’re learning that inflammation in general is something to be aware of if you are HIV positive, and that it can actually increase HIV transmission.

Inflammation is one of your body’s important responses to a perceived threat.  When your body comes into contact with something that it considers foreign or dangerous, the immune system sends extra blood to the site of contact, so that the immune cells in the blood can try to remove the threat, and also so that the body has the extra blood it will need to heal.  It is the increased blood flow to the site that causes inflammation, usually accompanied by redness, soreness and itching.

It’s understandable that HIV causes inflammation, because your immune system is trying to fight the virus inside your body.  There’s another reason why inflammation is relevant to HIV and it has to do with the way the virus is transmitted.  Inflammation increases the risk of HIV transmission significantly, whether it is the HIV-positive or the HIV-negative person who is experiencing it.

Inflammation is the result of increased blood flow to a particular site, and we know that HIV hangs out in the blood.  If somebody who is HIV-positive is experiencing inflammation on the penis or inside the vagina or anus, there will be more blood and therefore more HIV in the area, increasing the risk of transmission during unprotected sex.  Remember, HIV works by invading immune cells, so if there are more immune cells present because of increased blood flow, there are also more cells for HIV to invade and a higher risk of transmission to a person who is experiencing inflammation.

Whether it is caused by sunburn, allergies, a new tatoo, or needle injection, inflammation at a site where body fluids come into contact significantly increases the risk of HIV transmission.  During sexual intercourse, if either partner has another sexually transmitted infection (STI), this will increase the risk of HIV transmission because of inflammation.  Similarly, women are more vulnerable to HIV infection and also to infecting others if they have a yeast infection or bacterial vaginosis (BV), or if they are using an IUD for birth control – all of which can cause inflammation.

There are many factors that contribute to HIV transmission and inflammation is a major one to be aware of.  Because we can’t always know how these different factors will interact, it is always best to practice safer sex and safer drug use.

-Miriam
 

This was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Body Health, HIV Prevention . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.

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  bacterial vaginosis treatments September 22, 2009 at 1:06 pm

  Yeast infections are not considered to be sexually transmitted infections (STI) because a celibate woman can develop them, but having unprotected sex can pass them along. A man who has unprotected sex with a woman who has an active yeast infection can get a penile yeast infection. Transmission of genital yeast infections from woman to man is uncommon, but it does happen.

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