How did AZT provide benefit?
It is possible that treatment with AZT reduced production of virus in the mothers. Readers should remember that despite treatment with AZT, some mothers still gave birth to HIV-infected babies. If AZT produced benefit by reducing production of HIV, then perhaps other less toxic drugs could be used. Clinical trials with those drugs in pregnant women might be worth testing. When does the fetus become infected? Based on the results of trial 076, it is not clear when infection of the fetus takes place. In theory, infection could take place anytime during pregnancy — in the womb, labour or delivery. Some researchers think that infection happens relatively late in pregnancy — during the last 60 days — and that the risk of infection increases during labour and delivery. Breast feeding As women in this study were not supposed to breast feed their infants, researchers do not know if the mother’s use of AZT has any effect on transmission via breast milk. Other women The women in trial 076 were r
