1. Maternal Virus Load during Pregnancy and Mother-to-Child Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1: The French Perinatal Cohort Studies
- Author
-
Christine Katlama, Jacques Isopet, Elisabeth Dussaix, Marie Christine Allemon, Claire Rekacewicz, Jean François Delfraissy, Laurent Mandelbrot, Véronique Chambrin, Jacqueline Puel, Nicole Ciraru-Vigneron, and Marie Jeanne Mayaux
- Subjects
Pregnancy ,medicine.medical_specialty ,biology ,Obstetrics ,Transmission (medicine) ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Virology ,Virus ,Infectious Diseases ,Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) ,medicine ,Immunology and Allergy ,Gestation ,Viral disease ,Sida ,business ,Cohort study - Abstract
Virus load in pregnancy and its relation to mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission were studied prospectively. From 1989 to 1994, 320 HIV-infected women from 18 centers had plasma samples stored. Among women not receiving antiretroviral therapy, the polymerase chain reaction RNA level was 3.6 log at delivery, and 15% of women had levels below the detection limit. There was no variation during pregnancy. Women born in sub-Saharan Africa had lower RNA levels, although their CD4 cell distribution did not differ from that in other women. Among 236 evaluable children, 19% +/- 5% were infected. Transmission occurred in 12% of cases (confidence interval, 5%-22%) with 10,000 copies/mL (P < .02). Maternal virus load appears strongly related to HIV transmission to the child.
- Published
- 1997