Transmision perinatal del virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana / Perinatal transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus

RESUMO

Transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from an infected mother to her fetus or infant occurs in utero and probably during labor and delivery. Athough the risk seems low, transmission via breast milk can also occur; breast-feeding during the pediod of seroconversión of the mother may carry relatively more risk. Because of the limitations of conventional HIV testing in infants, it is difficult to determine the rate of transmission from an infected mother to her fetus of infant. The transmission rate is probably between 20 percent and 60 percent, depending on the mother's health status. (the rate is higher in women who have more advanced disease.) As HIV spreads worlwide and more women get infected, a growing number of children are acquiring the infection perinatally. Although the actual numbers of pediatric AIDS cases and HIV-infected children are unknown, perinatal HIV infection is a significant problem, particularly in pattern 2 countries where HIV is spread primarily by heterosexual contac. Children in these countries may account for up to 35 percent of all AIDS cases, even though a large proportion of HIV infected children die of common childhood diseases before they develop clinical AIDS. In pattern 1 countries, where HIV is prdominantly affecting homosexual and bisexual men, children are being infected by mothers who have acquired the infection through intravenous drug abuse or