CROI 2015: Breastfeeding Mothers with HIV Often Undiagnosed in Sub-Saharan Africa

A large proportion of women in sub-Saharan Africa who are at high risk of transmitting HIV to their infants during breastfeeding are likely to be undiagnosed, if results of a large 3-country survey are applicable to other countries with a high prevalence of HIV among pregnant women, according to a study presented by David Maman of Médecins sans Frontières at the recent 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle. The study also found very high rates of HIV incidence among pregnant women aged 15-29 in Kenya and South Africa, emphasizing the need for repeat testing during pregnancy and the breastfeeding period.

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CROI 2015: 3-Drug ART Prevents Vertical HIV Transmission [VIDEO]

Pregnant women treated with a standard 3-drug antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen were less likely to transmit HIV to their babies that those given only zidovudine (AZT; Retrovir) and nevirapine (Viramune), according to results from the PROMISE study presented at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) last week in Seattle.

[Mary Glenn Fowler, CROI, February 24, 2015]

"We had very low transmission rates les than 2% for both strategies, however there was significantly decreased transmission for the triple arms compared to the zidovudine arm," Mary Glenn Fowler from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine said at a CROI press conference. But the triple regimen was associated with an overall increase in moderate but not severe maternal adverse events, as well as a higher risk of moderate adverse pregnancy outcomes such as low birth weight and pre-term delivery.

SEE ALSO: CROI 2015: Triple-Drug Combination Superior for Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

3/5/15

Reference

MG Fowler, M Qin, SA Fiscus, et al. PROMISE: Efficacy and Safety of 2 Strategies to Prevent Perinatal HIV Transmission
. 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Seattle, February 23-24, 2015. Abstract 31LB.

CROI 2015: Triple-Drug Combination Superior for Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

Implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of 3-drug antiretroviral treatment during pregnancy leads to a significantly lower rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission, a 7-country randomized study has shown. The results of the PROMISE study, conducted in sub-Saharan Africa and India, were presented at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) last week in Seattle.

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Triple Antiretroviral Therapy Best for Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission

A 3-drug regimen containing lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) plus 2 nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) was more effective at preventing perinatal HIV transmission than taking a single drug during pregnancy, another during labor, and 2 more after delivery, according to findings from the PROMISE study.

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