Stopping Breast Milk Transmission of HIV

Ivanhoe Newswire

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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Breastfeeding is an important source of nutrients for babies, but it can also spread the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Now a drug may offer protection.

In sub-Saharan Africa, breastfeeding is critical for infant survival. However, 16 percent of untreated infants breast-fed after their first birthdays are infected with HIV-1. Studying mothers in Blantyre, Malawi, researchers found using the antiretroviral drugs nevirapine (Viramune) or a combination of nevirapine and zidovudine (INN) for the first 14 weeks of life significantly reduced the spread of HIV-1 infection after birth in nine-month-old infants.

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Compared with the control, those taking the drugs had significantly lower rates of HIV-1 infection from the age of six weeks to 18 months. At nine months, 5.2 percent of the infants given nevirapine and 6.4 percent of those given the dual-drug combination were infected, compared to 10.6 percent of infants in the control group.

There were no significant differences in efficacy between the two extended-prophylaxis groups, study authors wrote. However, serious adverse events (primarily neutropenia) that were possibly related to a study drug were more frequent in the extended-dual-prophylaxis group.

The authors say more research needs to be done before establishing whether babies of HIV-1-infected mothers should receive antiretroviral prophylaxis while they are being breast-fed.

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:119-29

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