AZT lowers maternal HIV transmission rate.The drug AZT AZT or zidovudine (zīdō`vy  dēn'), drug used to treat patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS; also called slashes the risk of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. , the virus that can lead to AIDS, according to clinical trial results released this week. An independent panel reviewing data from the trial found a transmission rate of 8.3 percent when pregnant women and their newborn babies received AZT. This compares to a rate of 25.5 percent in a group of women and infants not getting the drug. That reduction prompted federal officials to halt the trial and offer AZT to all of the participants. "This study clearly showed a rather dramatic beneficial effect," says Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID NIAID National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. ), which cosponsored the trial. Until now, there has been no way to shield the fetus from an HIV-infected mother. The trial began in April 1991. U.S. and french investigators enrolled HIV-infected women in their 14th to 34th week of pregnancy. The women received either AZT or an inactive placebo during their pregnancy and labor. For the 6 weeks following birth, the newborns got either the AZT or the placebo they had been exposed to in utero in utero (in u´ter-o) [L.] within the uterus. in u·ter·o adj. In the uterus. in utero adv. . The review panel analyzed preliminary data from 364 infants in the trial. The reviewers noted that 13 of the 53 HIV-infected babies had received AZT, the other 40 a placebo. These results are statistically highly significant and therefore unlikely to be due to chance. The investigators found no serious short-term side effects Side effects Effects of a proposed project on other parts of the firm. among mothers or their babies taking AZT, although some infants taking the drug experienced a mild anemia. Federal officials say they aren't ready to formally advise all pregnant women or their newborn infants to begin AZT therapy. "Long-term follow-up of all children born to mothers in this study is essential to learn more about the risks and benefits of this treatment," Fauci says. Public health officials worry that in utero exposure to AZT might cause subtle neurodevelopmental abnormalities in children, a hazard that wouldn't show up for years. At the same time, doctors should consider the potential benefits of AZT therapy for an HIV-infected pregnant patient, Fauci adds. NIAID sent that same message to physicians in a Feb. 21 alert. The HIV-infected women in this trial were generally healthy and did not show the severe immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. problems that accompany AIDS, says study cochair Rhoda Sperling of the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Investigators don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. whether AZT would interrupt maternal HIV transmission in other cases, she adds. |
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