What treatment helps prevent HIV/AIDS in babies of HIV-infected mothers?
In February 2002, the U.S. Public Health Service issued updated guidelines for drug treatment of HIV-infected pregnant women. It recommended that HIV-infected pregnant women be offered combination treatment with HIV-fighting drugs to help protect their health and to help prevent passing the infection to their babies. Infected pregnant women should take the drug zidovudine (ZDV) as part of their drug regimen as early as 14 weeks of pregnancy, and continuing throughout pregnancy and labor and delivery. ZDV is the only drug proven to help prevent infection in the baby. (The baby also should be treated with ZDV for the first six weeks of life.) Women who do not yet need combination treatment for their own health may choose to be treated with ZDV alone. However, studies suggest that newer HIV-fighting drugs (such as protease inhibitors) may reduce the risk to the baby more than ZDV alone because they greatly reduce the levels of the virus in the mothers blood. The recommendation to include
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- What treatment helps prevent HIV/AIDS in babies of HIV-infected mothers?
