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.
