Although great progress has been made in treating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), the best way to battle infection is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. The following steps can be taken to reduce the risk of contracting HIV. These include:

• Practicing safe sex. Women should not engage in unprotected sex unless they are certain that their partner does not have HIV. Latex or polyurethane condoms are the best protection – aside from abstinence – from HIV. Lambskin condoms do not protect against HIV. Also, women should use only water-based lubricants during protected sex, as oil-based lubricants can weaken condoms. Dental dams, which are made of medical-grade latex, should be used during oral sex. Using a new latex or polyurethane condom for each sexual encounter can reduce – but not eliminate – this risk.
  
  Female condoms can also help block the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), but are not as effective as male condoms. Birth control devices such as birth control pills, diaphragms, injections of medroxyprogesterone acetate and contraceptive implants will not protect a woman from getting HIV.
  
  

  

  Condoms can also protect against contracting other STDs including syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea or bacterial vaginosis. A person infected with an STD is at greater risk for contracting HIV. Use of condoms can reduce – but not eliminate – the risk of contracting STDs.
  
  
• Exercising caution when using blood supplies in foreign countries. Though the blood supply is screened in the United States, this is not the case in all countries. People who have blood transfusions in another country should be tested for HIV upon their return to the United States.
  
  
• Scheduling regular gynecological exams. Women should have a yearly Pap smear and those who engage in anal sex should also have regular tests for anal cancer.
  
  
• Not douching. Douching removes some of the normal bacteria that protect the vagina from infections, including HIV.
  
  
• Not sharing needles during intravenous drug use. The safest behavior for drug addicts is to seek help for their addiction. However, those who continue to use drugs should not share needles with other addicts. Sharing a needle with an HIV-infected addict dramatically increases the risk of contracting HIV.

Pregnant women who are diagnosed with HIV should seek immediate treatment for the virus. The use of a drug called zidovudine (ZDV) can substantially decrease a mother’s risk of passing the virus on to her baby, a condition known as perinatal transmission. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also recommends that women infected with HIV discuss with their physician the option of having an elective Caesarean section, in which the baby is delivered through an abdominal incision instead of vaginally. Studies show that such methods of delivery, coupled with use of ZDV, can substantially reduce the risk of transmission of the virus to a newborn.

In addition, most physicians follow the recommendations of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS), which state that women who have HIV or AIDS should use formula instead of breast milk when feeding their babies.

It is also important to note that HIV patients should use HIV prevention methods even when their partner is also infected. These steps are necessary because people can carry different strains of the virus, and different strains can operate differently in the body or be resistant to different anti-HIV medications.