Pediatric Health Care
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Appropriate Treatment Methods Can Prevent Nearly All Risk of Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission, Study Says |
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Appropriate Treatment Methods Can
Prevent Nearly All Risk of Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission, Study Says |
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| Providing appropriate treatment methods to
HIV-positive women during pregnancy can prevent nearly all risk of
mother-to-child transmission of the virus, according to a study published
online Wednesday in the journal AIDS, the PA/Google.com reports (Kirby, PA/Google.com,
5/6). For the study, Claire Townsend, research fellow at the University
College London Institute of Child Health, and colleagues analyzed 5,151
pregnancies among HIV-positive women in the United Kingdom and Ireland
between 2000 and 2006. The study found that the rate of MTCT decreased to
1.2% from 20% in the mid-1990s. According to the researchers, the primary
reason for the decline was the increase in prenatal HIV testing following
the implementation of routine screening policies in the countries, BBC News
reports. Routine screening increased diagnosis rates before delivery from
about 70% in 2000 to about 95% in 2005, data showed (BBC News, 5/6). Routine
screening policies were introduced in Ireland in 1999 and between 2000 and
2003 in the United Kingdom, the PA/Google.com reports. Expanded access to
antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive pregnant women also was a factor,
researchers said. The HIV transmission rate for women taking antiretroviral
therapy for a minimum of two weeks prior to delivery was 0.8%, according to
the study (PA/Google.com, 5/6). The rate was found regardless of the type of
antiretrovirals the women received or whether they had vaginal births or
cesarean sections, the study found. It was the first time such low rates of
MTCT have been found at a population level, researchers said (BBC News,
5/6). Townsend said, "Continuing to improve the offer and uptake of
antenatal HIV testing could have a significant impact on further reducing
MTCT, since most perinatally acquired infection is now in infants whose
mothers are among the approximately 5% of infected women who remain
undiagnosed at delivery" (PA/Google.com, 5/6). She also said, "This
emphasizes the importance of achieving and maintaining a high uptake of
antenatal HIV testing on a national scale." Lisa Power of the Terrence
Higgins Trust said, "With the right treatment and relevant support, the vast
majority of women living with HIV can have healthy uninfected children,"
adding, "This is why testing for HIV in pregnancy is so important and why
treatment for pregnant women living with HIV in the [United Kingdom] should
always be free, whatever their immigration status" (BBC News, 5/6). The
study is available online.
Access this story and related links online: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=51987 |
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