The Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), a multicenter, prospective study, was established in August 1993 to carry out comprehensive investigations of the impact of HIV infection and its clinical, laboratory, and psychosocial effects in women. The purpose of this study is to collect and evaluate these data from HIV infected and at-risk women to better understand and provide support for women whom are currently HIV infected or who are at risk for HIV infection.

HIV in women is increasing worldwide, with women comprising approximately 14% of the total adult and adolescent AIDS cases, the highest proportion yet reported. The impact of AIDS is particularly severe in minority populations; among women, African Americans, and Hispanics combined now represent the majority of AIDS cases (76%) in the United States. AIDS is now the third leading cause of death for women aged 25 to 44 (after cancer and cardiovascular disease) and is the leading cause of death of African American women in this age group.

Studies of HIV and AIDS in women can play a unique role in testing new biological or socio-behavioral hypotheses at the population level and in linking basic science findings and laboratory methods to well-defined populations and communities. Research areas that are likely to draw more attention in the near future will include the study of pathogenicity and transmissibility of different HIV subtypes or recombinant forms and their interaction with variably susceptible individuals; the change in the scope of HIV natural history studies in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy; and the contribution of such studies to the design of a wide spectrum of prevention modalities (e.g., prevention of HIV and prevention of opportunistic infections). In addition, studies of natural history of HIV-related malignancies and active surveillance of malignancies in HIV infected and high-risk uninfected women may lead to new screening and prevention modalities in high-risk populations of women.

Participants will have study visits every 6 months. Questionnaires regarding sexual behavior, health care utilization, medical and obstetric/gynecological history, psychosocial factors, and sociodemographics will be completed by participants. Physical, gynecological, and lipodystrophy examinations will also be conducted at each visit, and current medication regimen will be noted. Blood and other bodily fluid samples will be collected and registered in both local and national repositories of the WIHS in conjunction with NIAID.

Inclusion Criteria

• HIV infected or uninfected and at high risk for HIV
• Willing to have blood drawn
• Give consent to have their specimens stored in the WIHS national repository
• Willing to be retested for HIV infection for this study; if hardcopy documentation of a positive result from both an HIV ELISA test and a confirmatory Western blot are available, blood need not be drawn and women need not agree to be retested for HIV
• Able to complete study visit interviews in English or Spanish
• Able to travel to and from site clinic and participate in study visits as an outpatient
• Have consent of parent or guardian if under 18; patients must be at least 18 years of age for enrollment at certain sites
• Have documented highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and pre-HAART CD4 counts and HIV RNA quantification, if appropriate (i.e., HIV-positive, self-reported HAART)

Exclusion Criteria

• Perinatally acquired HIV
• Enrolled in the WIHS through another site
• AIDS-related conditions; if a woman reports an AIDS-related condition during screening that sites can refute through medical records, the woman is still eligible for enrollment