(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Breastfeeding is an important source of nutrients
for babies, but it can also spread the human immunodeficiency virus type 1
(HIV-1). Now a drug may offer protection.
In sub-Saharan Africa, breastfeeding is critical for infant survival. However,
16 percent of untreated infants breast-fed after their first birthdays are
infected with HIV-1. Studying mothers in Blantyre, Malawi, researchers found
using the antiretroviral drugs nevirapine (Viramune) or a combination of
nevirapine and zidovudine (INN) for the first 14 weeks of life significantly
reduced the spread of HIV-1 infection after birth in nine-month-old infants.
Compared with the control, those taking the drugs had significantly lower rates
of HIV-1 infection from the age of six weeks to 18 months. At nine months, 5.2
percent of the infants given nevirapine and 6.4 percent of those given the
dual-drug combination were infected, compared to 10.6 percent of infants in the
control group.
“There were no significant differences in efficacy between the two
extended-prophylaxis groups,” study authors wrote. “However, serious adverse
events (primarily neutropenia) that were possibly related to a study drug were
more frequent in the extended-dual-prophylaxis group.”
The authors say more research needs to be done before establishing whether
babies of HIV-1-infected mothers should receive antiretroviral prophylaxis while
they are being breast-fed.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:119-29
