Heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 from transfusion recipients to their sex partners

Using lookback procedures and other methods, we identified and then prospectively followed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected transfusion recipients and their sex partners to determine AIDS incidence and risks of heterosexual transmission of HIV-1. At enrollment, 7 of 32 (21.9%) female partners of male recipients were themselves infected with HIV-1, as compared with none of 14 male partners of female recipients (p = 0.08). No additional episodes of transmission were observed. The prevalence of advanced immunodeficiency at enrollment was similar in male and female recipients. Male recipients with advanced immunodeficiency (CD4+ lymphocyte count < or = 0.20 x 10(9)/L or a history of clinical AIDS) at enrollment were more likely to have infected their female partners (odds ratio = 7.9; p = 0.03) than men with neither condition. Similarly, AIDS-free survival, as estimated by the product-limit method, was lower among male transmitters than among male nontransmitters (p = 0.01). Transmission was not associated with frequency of unprotected vaginal intercourse. Our data suggest that HIV-1-infected men who develop immunodeficiency rapidly are more likely to infect their sex partners and that the greater efficiency of male-to-female HIV-1 transmission is not explained by a greater number of sexual contacts or more advanced immunodeficiency in index subjects.