Sero survey of human immunodeficiency virus infection in women at a family planning clinic: absence of infection in an indigent population in San Francisco

To determine the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in contracepting women, 1,308 consecutive attendees at an inner-city family planning clinic completed a risk factor questionnaire and were then asked to have an HIV test. None of the 1,000 women tested was seropositive. Preventive efforts in family planning clinics are likely to be productive because few contraceptors, including those with risk factors, are already infected. The factors which determine differences in HIV positivity between childbearing and contracepting women, who are similar in demographic and HIV risk characteristics, warrant further investigation.