[NYTr] Cuba Reduces Risk of Mother to Child HIV Infection

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles


Cuba Reduces Risk of Mother to Child HIV Infection

Havana, Nov 29 (acn) Cuba's program to prevent the spread of HIV from 
mother to child has substantially reduced infection rates.

Doctors from the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK) in 
Havana said that while 288 babies have been born to HIV-positive 
mothers in Cuba to date, only 30 of them tested positive, two had no 
symptoms, 10 died of the virus and 18 are currently being treated, 
reported Juventud Rebelde newspaper.

According to a source from the IPK, the institute works to reduce 
vertical transmission by banning breastfeeding and performing cesarean 
sections on all HIV-positive mothers at 38 weeks to prevent contact 
between the babies and vaginal secretions.

The HIV-positive mothers are also given the anti-retroviral drug AZT 
from week 14 of their pregnancy and those who have white blood cell 
counts below 350 per cubic millimeter receive three anti-retroviral 
medicines.

Since HIV was first detected in Cuba in 1985, 9,039 people have been 
infected with the virus, 81 percent of them men. A total of 1,550 have 
died of AIDS, 110 have died of other causes and 7,379 continue to live 
with the condition. There are 3,427 people suffering from full-blown 
AIDS on the island.