Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - 18 Dec 95; 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
Paul Recer, Associated Press
In a study of 30 pregnant women, New York State Department of Health researchers projected that patients with a load of 50,000 viruses per milliliter of blood had a 75 percent probability of transmitting the disease to their infants. Below that level, the odds drop to just 3 percent, the study found.
Dr. Barbara Weiser, a coauthor of the study, said that the research was an effort to find a threshold of virus load that might predict the odds of transmitting the disease.
A report on the study is to be published Tuesday in the Prceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"This test is only available now at a small number of research centers," Weiser said in an interview. "It is just a research test."
But eventually, she said, clinicians may be able to use such a test to identify the level of virus a pregnant woman has and then to make treatment decisions based on the findings.
Right now, Weiser said, all pregnant women who are HIV positive are encouraged to take AZT or other anti-viral drugs to reduce the level of virus in their blood stream.
In the study, the researchers found that HIV was transmitted to the babies of eight of 30 pregnant women. All of the eight mothers who transmitted the disease had concentrations of 95,000 viral particles per millimeter of blood, or more. The highest load was 850,000. Two mothers with levels above 95,000 did not communicate the disease to their babies.
None of the babies born to women with lower HIV virus loads were infected with the disease, the study found.
Weiser said that based on the small study, a statistical projection shows that women with a concentration of less than 50,000 virus copies per millimeter of blood had a 3 percent chance of transmitting the disease to their babies -- and women with higher levels had a 75 percent chance.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading AIDS researcher, said earlier studies had proven that higher levels of virus make maternal transmission of HIV more likely. But the New York study, he added, "proved it in very precise biological terms."
"They put a number on it," Fauci said.
Srisakul Kliks, a researcher at the University of California AIDS Research Center in San Francisco, said that it is important to establish a threshold at which maternal viral transmission is likely in order to guide clinicians in making treatment decisions.
"If we could predict the likelihood of the babies being born with the infection, then it would help us prepare and to anticipate what will be needed for both the mother and the baby," she said.
Kliks said the study also emphasizes the importance to the unborn baby of treatment that would reduce the virus load in pregnant women.
Anti-viral drugs, such as AZT, reduce the virus load by blocking HIV from reproducing.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
951218
AP951222
Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1995. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1995. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .