Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Thursday November 20, 7:36 pm Eastern Time
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the number of babies born with AIDS between 1992 and 1996 declined 43 percent. In 1996 there were 509 babies born with the AIDS virus compared with 894 babies in 1992. The number had increased each year between 1984 and 1992.
The health agency attributed the decline mainly to increased use of the drug AZT by pregnant women infected with HIV, the AIDS virus. The decline has been seen in all racial and ethnic groups and in both urban and rural areas.
As of the end of September, there were 7,310 cases of perinatal HIV transmission among the 626,334 AIDS cases reported nationwide, the CDC said. "They are largely black and Hispanic children," medical epidemiologist Dr. Mary Lou Lindegren said.
Health officials began promoting HIV counseling and voluntary testing for pregnant women after a 1994 study found the use of AZT by HIV-positive women during pregnancy and by newborns for six weeks after birth reduced the risk of perinatal HIV transmission by as much as two-thirds.
"These data released today are very good news," Lindegren said. "The data suggest increases in HIV counseling and voluntary testing of women and increased use of AZT therapies by HIV-infected mothers and their newborns."
The number of reported perinatally acquired AIDS cases peaked in 1992. The rate at which cases have occurred since June 1996 is about the same as it was at the beginning of 1988.
The CDC said further declines may occur as the use of new combination therapies becomes more widespread. "We are seeing similar declines among infants diagnosed with AIDS during the first year of life, suggesting that these declines are most likely related to interventions that have been implemented in recent years," Lindegren said.
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