The AIDS virus: maternal transmission
Network 9(1): 4-5
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0270-3637 PMID: 12281271 Document Number: 355664
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in women and their infants is a threat, particularly in areas where AIDS virus is endemic. HIV can cross the placenta, or infect infants at birth, leading to a 25-50% risk of infection in children of infected women. In Rwanda, for example, 20% of AIDS victims are children. 300 children have died of AIDS in the U.S. Newborns progress to AIDS and die within 2-3 years, much faster than AIDS development in adults. But HIV cannot always be reliably detected in newborns, since maternal antibodies are measurable for at least 6 months. HIV is known to pass into breast milk, to infect infants who were seronegative at birth, but the precise risk of such transmission is unknown. It would be unwise, however, to advise against breast feeding in developing countries, since bottle-fed babies are likely to die of diarrheal disease and malnutrition. Options for reducing maternal transmission of AIDS virus include counseling HIV-positive women to avoid pregnancy, setting up separate maternity wards for such women, providing sterile needles and a clean blood supply, and further research on detection, drug treatment, prevention, and precise risks of AIDS. Many of these procedures for maternal health care will also improve the quality of maternity care with respect to other conditions.