HIV/AIDS in pregnant women and children

A 2012 Johnson & Johnson infographic succinctly summarized the plight of HIV-positive women and children: Every hour, 40 babies are born HIV-positive and 4 mothers with HIV are lost to pregnancy-related deaths. While pediatric HIV infections have nearly been eliminated in high-income countries, 88% of children living in sub-Saharan Africa were newly infected with the virus in 2012 (1). Ninety percent of HIV-positive-children contract the virus through mother-to-child transmission. Progress has been made in reducing new HIV infections in children and optimizing ART regimens, but treatment continues to elude nearly 2 out of 3 eligible children living in priority countries. A US Department of Health and Human Services project, AIDSinfo, has issued guidelines for the use of ARTs in pediatric HIV infections (2) and developed recommendations for pregnant HIV-1-infected women and interventions to reduce perinatal HIV transmission in the United States (3). Key points from the AIDSinfo documents and related information can be found here.

References

1.            Amfar. Statistics: Worldwide. 2013; http://www.amfar.org/about-hiv-and-aids/facts-and-stats/statistics--worldwide/. Accessed May, 2014.

2.            AIDSinfo (NIH) Guidelines for the use of antiretroviral agents in pediatric HIV infection. 2014; http://m.aidsinfo.nih.gov/contentfiles/lvguidelines/PedARV_RecsOnly.pdf. Accessed May, 2014.

3.            AIDSinfo (NIH) Recommendations for use of antiretroviral drugs in pregnant HIV-1-infected women for maternal health and interventions to reduce perinatal HIV transmission in the United States. 2014; http://aidsinfo.nih.gov/contentfiles/lvguidelines/Peri_Recommendations.pdf. Accessed May, 2014.