HIV Moms And Babies
The higher the level of HIV in a pregnant woman's blood,
the more likely she was to transmit the virus to her baby,
two new studies found, unless the mothers were treated
with the anti-retroviral drug AZT. Researchers found that
pregnant women with the highest levels of HIV were one-third
less likely to transmit the virus if they used that drug,
according to an article in the August 5th edition of the
New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers concluded that aggressive anti-retroviral
therapy is probably the best way to lower the risk that
babies will be born with AIDS. However, they warned that
the benefits must be weighed against the possible long-term
effects of the drug, which are still unknown.
Dr. Lynne Mofenson of the National Institutes of Health
led one study of 84 women treated with AZT while pregnant
and whose babies also were treated with the drug for several
weeks after birth. Among the mothers who had undetectable
levels of HIV at 20 to 30 weeks of pregnancy, none of the
babies tested positive for HIV.
The 2nd study, led by Dr. Patricia Garcia of Northwestern
University, looked at 552 pregnant women from 1990 to 1995.
It found that among women with the highest levels of HIV,
representing the most advanced cases of AIDS, 20 percent
of those who had been treated with AZT transmitted the virus
to their babies compared to a 63 percent transmission rate
among those not treated with AZT.
In those countries that cannot afford AZT treatment, about
one-fourth of all babies born to HIV-positive mothers get
the virus. Since AZT therapy became standard in the United
States, that rate has dropped to 9 percent.
