Search

We evaluated 70 HIV-infected pregnant women with CD4+ cell count >350 cells per cubic millimeter who received zidovudine, lamivudine, and nevirapine from week 25 of gestation until 6 months after delivery and a 3-week tail of zidovudine and lamivudine at the moment of drug discontinuation. Forty days after the interruption of all drugs resistance mutations were present in 5 of 70 (7.1%) women. Two of them had the same mutation archived in baseline HIV DNA. The other 3 women had, at least once, detectable viral load and presence of mutations during treatment. Overall, the risk of developing resistance mutations in compliant women was low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how administering antiretroviral drugs during the last trimester of pregnancy and around the time of delivery can be effective in the reduction of HIV transmission from mother to child. The research indicates that treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) results in plasma concentrations in breast milk that can reduce HIV RNA levels significantly.