Virologic studies of HTLV-III/LAV in pregnancy: case report of a woman with AIDS.

The number of cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in women is increasing. As of December 30, 1985, 1075 cases in women had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control; 81% of these cases occurred in women of childbearing age (15 to 45 years). The human T-lymphotropic virus type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus (HTLV-III/LAV) can be transmitted from mothers to their infants. Described is a woman with transfusion-acquired AIDS who was six weeks' pregnant at the time Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was diagnosed. Despite the fact that HTLV III/LAV was isolated from her peripheral lymphocytes throughout pregnancy, transmission of the virus to her infant or husband does not appear to have occurred.