AEGiS-AP: AIDS Risk to Unborn is Seen

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

AIDS Risk to Unborn is Seen

Associated Press - December 6, 1985

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 - Pregnant women infected with AIDS may run a risk as high as 65 percent of passing the infection to their unborn child, the Centers for Disease Control said Thursday in guidelines calling for testing of high-risk women who are or may become pregnant.

The guidelines, published today in the centers' weekly bulletin, avoid any mention of abortion in the case of an infected pregnant woman.

But it does urge counseling for women in high-risk groups.

That would include prostitutes, women who use intravenous drugs, women from Central African countries where heterosexual transmission of acquired immune deficiency syndrome is common and women with some symptoms of infection.

The Atlanta-based agency says it has recorded 217 cases of AIDS in children, of whom more than 130 have died. In 165 of those cases, or 76 percent, the mother was the only risk factor.

While the risk of transmission is not firmly established, Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, deputy director of the centers, said, "Limited available data suggest a high rate of transmission - in one study as high as 65 percent."

Besides the risk to the infant, pregnancy may increase the risk to a woman who carries the virus but shows no symptoms, the guidelines say. Pregnancy sometimes suppresses the body's immune system, so AIDS virus in a woman's bloodstream may be more likely to cause the disease.

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