According to a recent research, men are two times more prone to an HIV infection if their partner is pregnant. The researchers insisted that when a woman is pregnant, her body experiences changes in the immune system, which may contribute to the increased chance of her partner becoming infected.

The researchers stated that antenatal testing is really important. They presented their findings at the International Microbicides Conference in Pittsburgh, adding that a microbicidal gel is safe to use during pregnancy to prevent HIV transmission.

But this for the first ever time that researchers have revealed that men are more vulnerable to infection, if their partners are expecting. About 3,321 couples were involved in the study, which was carried out in Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. One of the partners in the couple was HIV-infected and the other was not.

The results revealed that pregnancy increased both male-to-female and female-to-male infection.

Jason Warriner, clinical Director for Terrence Higgins Trust said," This shows why it's so important to have antenatal screening programmes in place. One of the biggest challenges we face in the UK is that one person in four with HIV doesn't even know they have the virus, because they haven't been tested".