HIV AIDS and pregnancy
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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.[1]
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.
- Lack of Prenatal Care : Women at highest risk for HIV often don’t get prenatal care or don’t have access to ongoing care during their pregnancy. These women are more likely to enter the delivery room not knowing their HIV status, and have not taken the antiretroviral drugs that can treat their own disease and reduce the risk of transmitting to their infant.
- Problems with Treatment : Many HIV-infected women and their infants still do not receive the correct drugs and other treatment or do not take the drugs properly. They may not get treatment or medical care. They may not live close to an HIV specialist who can make sure they receive proper treatment and care. Or they simply don’t have the information and resources to make decisions about their future
HIV Testing
HIV testing is recommended for all pregnant women. HIV testing is provided to pregnant women in two ways:
- Opt-in : In areas with opt-in testing, women may be ofered HIV testing. Women who accept testing will need to sign an HIV testing consent form.
- Opt-out : In areas with opt-out testing, HIV testing is automatically included as part of routine prenatal care. With opt-out testing, women must specifically ask not to be tested and sign a form refusing HIV testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that opt-out testing be provided to all pregnant women.
CDC Recommendations
- In the 2006 Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Womenin Health-Care Settings, CDC recommended the opt-out approach to testing for all adult and adolescent patients in health-care settings, including pregnant women.
- These recommendations emphasize:
- Universal “opt-out” HIV testing for all pregnant women early in every pregnancy;
- A second test in the third trimester in certain geographic areas or for women who are known to be at high risk of becoming infected (e.g., injection-drug users and their sex partners, women who exchange sex for money or drugs, women who are sex partners of HIV-infected persons, and women who have had a new or more than one sex partner during this pregnancy);
- Rapid HIV testing at labor and delivery for women without a prenatal test result; and
- Exploration of reasons that women decline testing.
Treatment
To read about Anti-Retroviral Therapy in pregnant women, click here.
Antepartum Care
NIH Recommendations
Monitoring of the Woman and Fetus during Pregnancy
- CD4 cell count should be monitored at the initial antenatal visit (AI) and at least every 3 months during pregnancy (BIII). Monitoring of CD4 count may be performed every 6 months in patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART) for more than 2–3 years who are adherent to therapy, clinically stable, and have sustained viral suppression (BIII).
- Plasma HIV RNA levels should be monitored at the initial visit (AI); 2–4 weeks after initiating (or changing) antiretroviral (ARV) drug regimens (BI); monthly until RNA levels are undetectable (BIII); and then at least every 3 months during pregnancy (BIII). HIV RNA levels also should be assessed at approximately 34–36 weeks’ gestation to inform decisions about mode of delivery.
- Genotypic ARV drug-resistance testing should be performed at baseline in all HIV-infected pregnant women with HIV RNA levels >500–1,000 copies/mL, whether they are ARV-naive or currently on therapy (AIII). Repeat testing is indicated following initiation of an ARV regimen in women who have suboptimal viral suppression or who have persistant viral rebound to detectable levels after prior viral suppression on an ARV regimen (AII).
- Monitoring for complications of ARV drugs during pregnancy should be based on what is known about the adverse effects of the drugs a woman is receiving (AIII).
- First-trimester ultrasound is recommended to confirm gestational age and, if scheduled cesarean delivery is necessary, to guide timing of the procedure.
Related Chapters
Reference
- ↑ Brinkman K, ter Hofstede HJ, Burger DM, Smeitink JA, Koopmans PP (1998). "Adverse effects of reverse transcriptase inhibitors: mitochondrial toxicity as common pathway". AIDS. 12 (14): 1735–44. PMID 9792373. Retrieved 2012-06-11. Unknown parameter
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