Abstract
Mother-to-child transmission is the highest mode of acquisition of HIV infection in children, with a 15-45% risk of an infant acquiring HIV from an infected mother without any medical intervention. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the implementation of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) guidelines and determine its clinical outcome in a PEPFAR Clinic in Nigeria from 2008 to 2012. A retrospective review of data of patients who accessed PMTCT from the Clinic in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu was conducted. Data were retrieved from the clinic’s database and analyzed. The result showed that three hundred and seventy-three (373) pregnant women (aged 30.22±4.88) and three hundred and sixty-seven (367) children from the pregnancies were enrolled into PMTCT. Ten (10) regimens were used for the mothers: AZT/3TC/NVP, TDF/3TC+NVP and AZT/3TC+EFV accounting for 80.00, 11.00 and 2.65%, respectively. AZT (15.80%) and NVP (84.20%) were used for the infants, 8 (2.18%) of whom tested positive for HIV. The study concluded that PEPFAR Clinic, UNTH Enugu substantially followed the guidelines in its PMTCT programme which was found to drastically reduce the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Key words: APIN-CDC, ARVs, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), HIV, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT).
Highlights
Heterosexual relationship is responsible for the highest mode of infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Africa (Pokharel et al, 2012)
Out of about half a million children aged under 15 years who are infected with HIV annually, more than 90% got infected as a result of mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, labour and delivery or breastfeeding (Arulogun et al, 2007)
The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) (APIN-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) Clinic situated at the permanent site of UNTH at Ituku Ozalla, Enugu State, South-eastern Nigeria was the center used for this study
Summary
Heterosexual relationship is responsible for the highest mode of infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Africa (Pokharel et al, 2012). Out of about half a million children aged under 15 years who are infected with HIV annually, more than 90% got infected as a result of mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, labour and delivery or breastfeeding (Arulogun et al, 2007) This is because, without intervention, there is a 15-45% risk of an infant acquiring the virus from an infected mother (Pokharel et al, 2012; De Cock et al, 2000; Hussein et al, 2011), making mother-to-child transmission the main mode of acquisition of HIV infection in children under 15 years (Arulogun et al, 2007). In some of the developing nations, more than 40% of all live births are HIV infected (Pokharel et al, 2012)
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