TOKYO, Oct 2 (AFP) - A Japanese woman has given birth via artificial insemination using sperm from her HIV-positive husband, with both mother and child confirmed infection-free, doctors said Tuesday.
It was the first successful birth using HIV-infected sperm in Japan, according to Tasuku Harada, a gynecologist and lecturer at the medical department of Tottori University in Tottori, 500 kilometers (310 miles) west of Tokyo.
Harada, who has led a team of doctors in the case, said he was aware of 250 babies born in Italy and several more in Spain through the same method.
"Both the mother and baby have tested negative for the virus," he said.
"The probability of infection through this treatment is literally zero," Harada said, citing 1,500 cases of treatment in Italy and 100 in Spain. "We have not received any report of infection."
The mother, in her 20s, gave birth to the child at the university's hospital over the summer.
Her husband, also in his 20s, is a haemophiliac who became infected with the HIV virus, which can cause AIDS, after receiving contaminated blood products.
They joined an artificial insemination program two years ago after receiving approval from the hospital's ethics committee.
Doctors placed the husband's HIV-positive sperm into a centrifuge to separate the sperm from the virus.
The sperm was then subjected to a so-called "swim-up" method in which doctors remove only active sperm to further filter out the HIV virus.
"According to one study, all but one of 4,000 copies of the virus may be removed through this method," Harada said.
The sperm-rinsing procedure is available anywhere in Japan but there are few places to check if the rinsed sperm is virus-free.
"I have received one request from a couple from a distance area" for a similar treatment, Harada said.
In August, Niigata University Hospital, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Tokyo, said two women had become pregnant using sperm from their HIV-positive husbands through in-vitro fertilisation.
If their pregnancies proceed smoothly, they are expected to give birth later this year and early next year.
The Japanese health ministry has had reports of 7,680 full-blown AIDS or HIV-positive patients, including 1,432 infected through contaminated blood products, as of June 24. At least 1,225 people have died of the disease.
Many haemophiliacs were infected with the HIV virus between the late 1970s and mid-1980s after receiving transfusions of contaminated blood products.
011002
AF011003
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2001 - AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, that no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. http://www.afp.com/
ÆGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2001. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2001 - ÆGiS. ÆGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on ÆGIS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of ÆGIS and the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
