LOS ANGELES, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- New studies show that the use of
antiretroviral drugs by mother or baby for several months after delivery can
significantly reduce the risk of transmitting the AIDS virus during
breast-feeding.
One research, presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic
Infections in Boston this week, found that the typical 15 percent infection rate
of HIV from breast-feeding could be cut about in half by administering AIDS
drugs for a longer period.
The study based in Malawi found that only 8 percent of infants who received an
initial drug treatment about the time of delivery plus 14 more weeks of AIDS
medications were infected with HIV after nine months, compared with about 13
percent of the group receiving only the initial treatment.
In another study led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
HIV-infected mothers in Kenya received a triple-drug regimen for about six
months. About 6 percent of these women's breast-fed infants got infected with
the virus after a year.
Public health officials have had great success blocking HIV transmission to
newborns using the drugs AZT and nevirapine about the time of delivery, but they
have few tools to prevent transmission through breast-feeding.
"Breast-feeding is the final frontier of preventing mother-to-child
transmission," Dr. Jeffrey Stringer, who directs the Center for Infectious
Disease Research in Zambia, said in remarks published by the Los Angeles Times
on Saturday.
U.S. mothers infected with HIV are typically told to use formula, but
formula-feeding is difficult in some nations because of cost and a lack of clean
water. The World Health Organization recommends that when breast-feeding cannot
be avoided, HIV-infected mothers should wean their children after six months.
