Daily antiretroviral therapy may prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.Byline: ANI Washington, July 23 (ANI): A daily dose of antiretroviral syrup to breastfeeding infants or treating their HIV-infected mothers with highly active antiretroviral drugs could be a safe way to prevent mother-to-child 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. transmission through breast milk, according to a study. The Breastfeeding, Antiretrovirals and Nutrition (BAN) study, led by Dr. Charles van der Horst from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public, coeducational, research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Also known as The University of North Carolina, Carolina, North Carolina, or simply UNC , is the only large-scale, randomised Adj. 1. randomised - set up or distributed in a deliberately random way randomized irregular - contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice; "irregular hiring practices" trial comparing infant prophylaxis or maternal treatment to an enhanced standard-of-care arm in the prevention of HIV transmission through breast milk. "This is an exciting development. We may be able to spare mothers in the developing world a horrible choice by offering them an effective method for preventing transmission of HIV during breastfeeding," said van der Horst. The study was conducted in Lilongwe, Malawi at a single site. Investigators randomly assigned a total of 2,367 mother-infant pairs to one of three treatment arms. For both the interventions, the probability of HIV-infection was significantly lower than in the enhanced control arm. Of the randomized ran·dom·ize tr.v. ran·dom·ized, ran·dom·iz·ing, ran·dom·iz·es To make random in arrangement, especially in order to control the variables in an experiment. infants, 4.9 percent were found to be HIV positive at birth. Among infants who were HIV-free at one week old, 6.4 percent on the enhanced control arm were infected by 28 weeks, compared to 3.0 percent of the infants on the maternal treatment arm and 1.8 percent of the infants who received daily nevirapine nevirapine /ne·vir·a·pine/ (ne-vir´ah-pen) a nonnucleoside inhibitor of HIV-1reverse transcriptase, used in combination with other antiretroviral agents in the treatment of HIV infection. syrup. On examining the probability of HIV infection or death by 28 weeks postpartum, 7.6 percent of the infants on the enhanced control arm were HIV-infected or died compared to 4.7 percent of the infants on the maternal treatment arm, and 2.9 percent of the infants on the infant prophylaxis arm. The results of the study give global and national policy makers the choice of which intervention (maternal or infant antiretroviral intervention) to implement based on the conditions and resources in their particular setting. "We hope to see these results translated quickly into program and policy,' said van der Horst. The findings of the study were presented at the International AIDS Conference Education, networking and the promotion of best practice are essential to enhancing the response to HIV/AIDS. IAS conferences provide opportunities to share experience, and increase the knowledge and expertise of professionals working in HIV/AIDS. . (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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