Investigation of the effects of a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission program among Iranian neonates

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is mostly spreading in developing countries. One of the most important pathways of HIV infection in these nations is the vertical route, from mother to infant. Therefore, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program for HIV among Iranian neonates born to HIV-positive mothers. A total of 54 neonates born to HIV-1 positive mothers, all of whom were in a PMTCT program for HIV, as per the Iranian guidelines, were enrolled in this descriptive cross sectional study from March 2014 to July 2017. After RNA extraction of a plasma specimen, HIV-1 viral load was tested by an Artus HIV-1 RG RT-PCR Kit. Out of 54 evaluated neonates, 32 (59.3%) were male. The mean age of the HIV-infected mothers was 30.1 ± 5.4 (range: 19-47) years, and 36 (66.7%) of the mothers were in the age group 26-34 years. In the present study, it was found that none of the neonates whose mothers had previously entered PMTCT programs had HIV. 15 children were found who were born to HIV-positive mothers who had not entered the PMTCT program. Three of these children were infected with HIV (CRF35_AD), and none of them carried HIV-1 variants with SDRMs. The results of this study indicate that if HIV-positive pregnant women enter the PMTCT program for HIV, they can realistically hope to give birth to a non-infected child.

Investigation of prevention of mother to child HIV transmission program from 2011 to 2017 in Suzhou, China

“…The high mortality rate and rapid transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) make it a worldwide public health problem, that is mostly spreading in the countries with middle and low financial resources 1–3 . There were approximate 36.7 million people living with HIV in 2016, and about 2.1 million of those were less than 15 years old 4 .…”

Non Detection of HIV-1 Proviral DNA in PBMCs of the Neonates Born to Iranian HIV-Infected Mothers in PMTCT Program

“…Peripheral blood samples were taken from each neonate at two ages (4 -6 weeks and 4 -6 months), and HIV-1 infection was tested in plasma and PBMC samples (20). It should be noted that during the present study, 20 children who were born to HIV-1 infected mothers who were not included in the PMTCT project were accidentally found.…”

“…From March 2014 to February 2018, 73 consecutive Iranian infants born to HIV-1-infected mothers were studied in this current follow up study to compare two different diagnostic methods (20). All HIV positive mothers between the ages of 15 to 48 years old were considered eligible for the current research.…”

“…All HIV positive mothers between the ages of 15 to 48 years old were considered eligible for the current research. It is noteworthy that the mothers of the neonates were entered into the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) project for HIV as per the Iranian guidelines (21), the criteria of which were as follows: (1) HIV-infected mothers received antiretroviral drugs; (2) all of them (HIV-infected mothers) had undergone cesarean section; (3) these mothers did not breastfeed their children; and also (4) newborns received zidovudine syrup (20).…”

“…In Iran, according to the WHO guidelines, the neonates born to HIV-infected mothers have been screened for the detection of HIV-RNA in plasma using real-time PCR since 2014 (20).…”