Mother-to-Child Transmission Rates Are Down

Mother-to-child HIV transmissions in the United States and other developed nations have declined dramatically largely due to the availability of antiretroviral drugs, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The epidemiologists examined data from HIV-positive pregnant women at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital and found nine newborns with HIV between 1999 and 2000, but none were born to women who received adequate prenatal counseling, HIV testing, or antiretroviral drugs. Before the introduction of HAART, vertical transmission rates were approximately 25%. 'This study shows the failures, those who slipped through, and the numbers are reflective of what we see nationally,' the CDC's Mary Glenn Fowler told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'We know that if we get women into prenatal care, get them properly tested, and start them early on antiretrovirals, we can reduce the transmission rate to about 2%.'