Researchers find early cessation or continued breastfeeding by HIV-infected women in low-resource settings give comparable child survival at 24 months

According to the World Health Organization, nearly three-quarters of the world’s 40 million human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people are living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-five per cent of the 4.3 million infected in 2006 caught the virus in this part of the world where women are particularly at risk. Figures for the Ivory Coast show for example that twice as many women than men are likely to be HIV-infected.

About one in four women who have tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) expect pregnancy and motherhood to be a part of their future, recent research suggests.

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) shows that adding a single dose of two common anti-HIV drugs can prevent HIV-positive pregnant women from developing resistance to an entire class of drugs, potentially improving future treatment options.

A study by scientists at the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, South Africa, has shown that exclusive breastfeeding can significantly reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in infants aged under six months when compared to those also given solid foods or replacement feed (i.e. formula milk). The research, published today in The Lancet, has implications for people in resource poor settings, such as in rural Africa.