A 46-year-old woman in Houston, Texas
has contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from her long-term
lesbian lover.
According to the Houston Department of
Health and Human Services, the case is the first to be recorded among
gay women.
“In 34 years of investigating HIV
infection, this is the first time anybody has ever identified sexual
transmission between two women,” Barton told Click2Houston.com.
“This is a very unique case in that the newly infected person was
a regular blood donor. So we had a long history of her negative
status for many years.”
The unidentified woman's status changed
in the summer of 2012, which led to a nearly two year investigation
in which other forms of transmission were ruled out.
According to a report released Friday
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the woman's
HIV-positive girlfriend stopped antiretroviral therapy in 2010.
“Women think if they're only having
sex with other women, that they're safe from sexually transmitted
diseases. But they're not safe,” said Dr. Robin Hardwicke of the
University of Texas Health Medical School.
Lesbian blog The
Fab Femme called the news “a big wake up call for the lesbian
community.”