Mother-To-Child Transmission Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1: Report From The Nairobi Study
Document Type
Report
Department
Obstetrics and Gynaecology (East Africa)
Abstract
Mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a significant problem in countries with endemic HIV-1 infection. Between 1986 and 1991, 365 children of HIV-L-infected mothers and 363 control children were studied in Kenya. The overall risk of transmission from mother to child, determined by serologic evidence of infection by age ⩽5? 12 months and excess mortality in the HIV-I-exposed group, was 42.8% (range, 27.6%-62.2%). Marriage was the only maternal characteristic associated with transmission (odds ratio, 2.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.2–4.2; P < .05). Children who experienced growth failure were more likely to be infected. In 44% of children ultimately infected, the pattern of antibody response implied intrapartum or postnatal exposure to HIV-1. Of potential postnatal exposures examined, duration of breast-feeding beyond age 15 months and the mother being married were independently associated with increased risk of infection and seroconversion of children. The percentage of HIV infection attributable to breast-feeding ⩽5? 15 months was 32%. The frequency of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-I was high; a substantial proportion of infection occurred postnatally, possibly through breast-feeding.
Publication ( Name of Journal)
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Recommended Citation
Datta, P., Embree, J. E., Kreiss, J. K., Ndinya-Achola, J. O., Braddick, M., Temmerman, M., ... & Plummer, F. A. (1994). Mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1: report from the Nairobi Study. Journal of Infectious diseases, 170(5), 1134-1140.
Comments
This work was published before the author joined Aga Khan University.