Are you pregnant? Go for HIV/AIDS test

The news in the medical world this week is that a second baby born with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus may have been cured of the deadly infection, due to treatment given to her four hours after she was born.

The doctors revealed the good news on Wednesday at an AIDS conference in Boston, United States of America.

The baby girl, born at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, California, is now nine months old and apparently free of HIV, say the physicians.

The girl’s case is the second to be recorded in the last eight months. In May, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical School announced that another baby born in Mississippi was cured of the infection after aggressive treatment a few hours after her birth.

The Mississippi baby is now 3 1/2 years old and seems HIV-free despite not receiving treatment for about two years, according to the scientists that managed her delivery and treatment.

Both cases are breakthroughs in the field of medicine, and they have led doctors to rethink how fast they can stop mother-to-child-transmission of HIV/AIDS.

The American doctors, however, have given doctors and expectant mothers something to ponder on.

One of the researchers, Dr. Deborah Persaud, said the treatment was only successful because the doctors worked aggressively with the babies to ensure that the viral exposure was very low in the process of delivery, as the mothers did not know their HIV status till the delivery day.

Doctors say this is a major obstacle in the global fight to reduce mother-to-child- transmission rates of HIV, especially in developing countries like Nigeria.

They say mothers do not know the relevance of HIV testing till the delivery day; or, in most cases, they discover after, hence, they do not know how to reduce their baby’s risk of getting infected.

The physicians add that low level of testing among pregnant women is a major reason why Nigeria has the highest number of children born with HIV in the world.

The 2013 UNAIDS report states clearly that Nigeria has the largest number of children acquiring HIV infection — nearly 60,000 in 2012, a number they say has remained largely unchanged since 2009.

The report states that without urgent action in Nigeria, the global target to reduce HIV infections by 50 per cent by 2015 is unlikely to be reached.

Chief pathologist, Dr. Seun Adeoye, states that the number of women of child-bearing age who are infected with HIV is increasing; therefore, the number of HIV infected babies is also on the rise because many mothers do not undergo HIV testing or counseling.

He states that the responsibility to ensure that a pregnant woman does not infect her baby starts with the mother — not the doctors.

Adeoye notes that an HIV-infected baby, if not properly managed, can die prematurely.

“Knowing your HIV status as a woman protects your baby; it is not knowing that endangers both you and the baby. Doctors cannot force anybody to take an HIV test. It is usually voluntary and done with consent. Now, the onus lies on the mother who knows she’s going to have a baby or planning to have one to know her status. The woman can pass HIV to her unborn baby.

“Many babies infected with HIV die within three years unless they are treated. That is why every woman thinking about becoming pregnant, and those women who are already pregnant, should strongly consider being tested for HIV,” he states.

Adeoye explains that knowing your HIV status as a mother would not only ensure the baby’s survival, it would also help the mother to get the treatment that would repress the virus from progressing into AIDS.

The physician states that when HIV-infected moms get anti-retroviral medicines during pregnancy, it cuts, to a great extent, the chances that they will pass the virus to their babies.

He calls on health care practitioners and health institutions to ensure that every pregnant woman is offered HIV testing during pregnancy.

The pathologist states that HIV is not just transmitted through sexual activities or blood transfusion; mothers must know that the virus is found in an infected person’s body fluids which include breast milk and vaginal secretions.

Adeoye adds, “If your doctor doesn’t mention testing you for HIV before you get pregnant or during your pregnancy, ask to be tested. Your doctor is bound by ethics to keep this information and not to use it to stigmatise you or refuse you treatment.”

“Remember that an infected mother can pass the virus to her baby during pregnancy, delivery or while breast-feeding.”