MEDICAL UPDATE: More on Fetal Transmission of HIV

MEDICAL UPDATE: More on Fetal Transmission of HIV

Being Alive/Los Angeles; Being Alive Newsletter - November 1993
presented by Mark Katz, MD and reported by Jim Stoecker

In the US, researchers estimate that about 25% of babies born to HIV+ mothers will themselves be HIV-infected. Most transmission, it seems, occurs at time of birth, but transmission may occur in the womb.

In a recent study, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (September 1993), researchers found HIV in the macrophages of the placenta of HIV+ women. Macrophages are tissue scavenger cells that are found throughout the body. These cells are not measured in blood counts because they live in the tissues and organs. Macrophages may be a major harboring spot for the virus and thus play an important role in the development of HIV disease. The presence of HIV in the tissue of the placenta may possibly be a source of mother to fetus transmission, and may be the mechanism for fetal infection.
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