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There is a risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in three primary situations: pregnancy, childbirth, and while breastfeeding. This topic is important because the risk of viral transmission can be significantly reduced with appropriate medical intervention, and without treatment HIV/AIDS can cause significant illness and death in both ...
Mother-to-child transmission of HIV globally remains a concern for UNAIDS, which estimates there are 120,000 new infections annually in children aged 14 years and younger around the world, while ...
HIV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, during delivery, or through breast milk, resulting in the baby also contracting HIV. [ 18 ] [ 83 ] As of 2008, vertical transmission accounted for about 90% of cases of HIV in children. [ 84 ]
Although prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs have been implemented across different regions, their success in resource-constrained settings is still widely debated upon. [9] In 2008, the majority of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole had an estimate of 430,000 HIV infections among children under the age of 15. [ 9 ]
In high income countries, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programs (PMTC) including HIV testing of pregnant women, antiretroviral treatment, [7] counselling about infant feeding, and safe obstetric practices (avoiding invasive procedures) have reduced mother-to-child transmission to less than 1%.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can occur during delivery of the neonate, in utero through mother-to-child transmission or postnatally by way of breastfeeding. Most transmission occurs during delivery. Transmission depends on multiple risk factors, usually centered around the viral load of HIV in the mother.
It follows UNICEF UK’s ‘Born Free from HIV’ campaign, which concentrated on the issue of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. [5] In 2008, it was estimated that young people aged 15 to 24 accounted for an estimated 45 per cent of new HIV infections worldwide and that almost two young people acquire HIV every minute.
Zidovudine (ZDV), alternatively named azidothymidine (AZT), was introduced as a drug to treat HIV in the late 1980s, reducing the chance of mother-to-child transmission by up to 70%. [11] [12] As of 2019, women account for about 20% of reported HIV cases. [13]