THURSDAY, Sept. 30, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- HIV-positive mothers on antiretroviral therapy may pass along high levels of their medications to their babies through breast-feeding, which may protect the infants from HIV infection.
That finding was presented Sept. 30 at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in Boston.
"It's a really surprising finding and could potentially mean a two-for-one situation," Dr. Robert Shapiro, research associate, Harvard School of Public Health and instructor at Harvard Medical School, said in a prepared statement.
An estimated one in eight babies born to women with HIV/AIDS acquire the AIDS virus through breast-feeding. HIV-positive women in the United States and other developed nations are told to feed their infants with formula.
This often isn't possible for HIV-positive mothers in developing countries. That's why researchers are trying to find ways to reduce HIV transmission during breast-feeding.
"Although studies are ongoing, it is believed that putting uninfected babies on antiretroviral medication may prevent them from acquiring the virus from their infected mothers while they are breast-feeding," Shapiro said.
"Our study suggests that putting mothers on antiretrovirals could provide infants with high enough levels of these medications through breast-feeding, so that the infants may not have to take any medication separately," he said.
The study included 20 HIV-positive mothers with full-blown AIDS in Botswana. The women received a combination therapy of three antiretroviral drugs. Researchers measured drug levels in the mothers' breast milk and in the mothers' and infants' blood either two or five months after birth.
The breast milk contained high levels of all three drugs. The blood tests showed that the babies may have taken in high enough levels of one or more of the drugs to protect them against HIV infection.
"It is generally believed that maternal antiretroviral therapy will decrease the changes of HIV transmission to breast-feeding infants by lowering the levels of virus in the blood and breast milk of mothers," Shapiro said.
"This study supports the possibility that maternal antiretroviral therapy may also decrease HIV transmission from breast-feeding by providing the drugs directly to the infants," he said.
More information
The March of Dimes has more about HIV and AIDS in pregnancy.
