Gynecological problems, ranging from stubborn yeast infections to invasive cervical cancer, are among the signs of AIDS in women that were originally not recognized because they did not appear in men. They have since been added to the list of AIDS indicators.

Often women do not seek care until they have more advanced disease for reasons ranging from improper diagnosis to the stresses of everyday living, observers of the epidemic have found. If her child is sick, a woman is more likely to tend to the child than to herself. She's the last on the totem pole, Fischl said.

HIV/AIDS Survival Rate Improving
Overall survival rate in the U.S. is improving because potent therapies can knock the virus down and the immune system at least partially heals, Fischl explained.

Although this is good news, the CDC is concerned that advances in drug treatment have lulled Americans into a false sense of complacency about HIV/AIDS, noting that while the number of AIDS cases is declining in the U.S., the number of people living with HIV is growing. The HIV epidemic in our country is far from over, CDC reports.

In the U.S., many people are able to live with HIV because they have access to effective drug therapy. But for the most part, people in developing countries cannot afford the necessary drugs, and many are dying. Taking precautions by using condoms, getting tested for HIV, encouraging your partner to get tested, and getting prompt medical care if diagnosed with the virus are important steps every woman can take to protect herself and to keep the epidemic from spreading.

Seventeen years after contracting HIV, Denison is the mother of healthy, HIV-free 4-year-old twins. Her health newsletter for women has 12,000 readers in 85 countries, and she has made it her mission to educate women, and the public about HIV/AIDS. It was a fluke that I found out I have HIV, she said.

"If I could have this, anyone could."