Cape Town - From the beginning of July, the Western Cape Department of Health will be rolling out a speedier prevention programme for the newborns of HIV-infected mothers who are at high risk of passing the virus on to their babies.
Helene Rossouw, spokeswoman for Health MEC Theuns Botha, says: “Babies at risk receive a prophylaxis, but there is a lag between being tested and receiving antiretrovirals (ARVs) if they are positive. From July, the new intervention will speed up the testing so that babies who need ARV therapy will get it within the first 24 hours of life.”
Newborn babies are defined as high risk if any of the following criteria apply: if the mother’s viral load exceeds 1 000 in the third trimester; if the mother received ARVs less than 12 weeks before delivery; if the mother tested HIV positive at delivery or after delivery (and is breast-feeding); if she defaulted with her ARV therapy during pregnancy, if there is a known drug resistance in the mother; or if the baby is born before 37 weeks or weighs less than 2.5kg at birth.
Babies at risk receive prevention therapy at birth, but with the new intervention “the more urgent administration of ARV” will be enabled, says Rossouw. HIV-negative infants of high-risk mothers will receive a combination of nevirapine and zidovudine as intensified post-exposure prophylaxis and their HIV test will be repeated at six weeks of age.
According to Avert HIV and Aids, an international charity: “Most children living with HIV become infected through mother-to-child transmission, and these children need to be tested as soon as possible after birth to find out if they are infected with the virus.”
Stellenbosch University’s Professor Mark Cotton, a principal investigator in a trial called Children with HIV Early Antriretroviral Treatment, says: “The results of our trial were encouraging as they reinforce the importance of starting infants with HIV on early treatment. Early treatment, followed by a break, may become an accepted strategy.
“It is better and more cost-effective than delayed treatment.”
The researchers found that infants who were treated straight away for one or two years and then given a break from treatment were more likely to live and to be in good health by their fifth birthday than those who received the standard therapy, which was delayed after birth.
At 1.7 percent, the Western Cape’s rate of transmission from mother to child is the lowest in the country.
- Cape Times