HIV AIDS and pregnancy

Sexually transmitted diseases Main Page
AIDS Microchapters
Home
Patient Information
Overview
Historical Perspective
Classification
Pathophysiology
Causes
Differentiating AIDS from other Diseases
Epidemiology and Demographics
Risk Factors
Screening
Natural History, Complications and Prognosis
HIV Opportunistic Infections
HIV Coinfections
HIV and Pregnancy
HIV Infection in Infants
Diagnosis
Diagnostic Study of Choice
AIDS Case Definition
History and Symptoms
Physical Examination
Laboratory Findings
Electrocardiogram
X-ray
Echocardiography and Ultrasound
CT scan
MRI
Other Imaging Findings
Other Diagnostic Studies
Treatment
Medical Therapy
Nutrition
Drug Resistance
Surgery
Primary Prevention
Secondary Prevention
Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy
Future or Investigational Therapies HIV Vaccine
Case Studies
Case #1
HIV AIDS and pregnancy On the Web
Most recent articles
Most cited articles
Review articles
CME Programs
Powerpoint slides
Images
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of HIV AIDS and pregnancy All Images X-rays Echo & Ultrasound CT Images MRI
Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse
NICE Guidance
FDA on HIV AIDS and pregnancy
CDC on HIV AIDS and pregnancy
HIV AIDS and pregnancy in the news
Blogs on HIV AIDS and pregnancy
Directions to Hospitals Treating AIDS
Risk calculators and risk factors for HIV AIDS and pregnancy

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editors-in-Chief: Ujjwal Rastogi, M.B.B.S. [2]

Overivew

About 120,000 to 160,000 women in the United States are infected with HIV. Nearly one out of four of these women are unaware of their disease, which puts them at high risk of passing the virus to their babies. Mother-to-child transmission is the most common way children become infected with HIV. Nearly all AIDS cases in U.S. children are because of mother-to-child transmission.

Epidemiology

According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 19.2 million women are living with HIV/AIDS throughout the world. In many countries, the rate of HIV infection in women is rising faster than in any other group.

Mother to child transmission

• Not all women who have HIV will give it to their children. Without treatment or breastfeeding about 25% (1 in 4) of pregnant women with HIV will transmit the virus to their babies.
• HIV transmission is reduced from 25% to less than 2% in women taking ART before and during birth, and if their babies are given therapy after birth. Before the current ART era, each year in the United States alone, approximately 2000 babies were infected with HIV. Despite increasing HIV prevalence, the HIV infected infants are approximately 300 per year.

Prevention Challenges

• The main challenge to preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission remains the fact that too many women don’t know they are HIV positive and they are not being routinely tested when pregnant.
• At the same time, many women aren’t aware that the right treatment can reduce the risk of passing the virus to their babies.
• Other important challenges include:
  • Sexual Contact with HIV-infected Men : The risk factors for women have changed. Earlier in the epidemic, more women were exposed to HIV through injection drug use. During the 1990s, women were increasingly likely to become infected through sexual contact with HIV-infected men. This is why women should know their own -- and their partners’ -- HIV status and risk factors.

Related Chapters

• AIDS antiretroviral therapy in pregnancy