Monitoring of the HIV-Positive Mother-Child Couple at the Provincial General Reference Hospital of Kinshasa

Abstract

Context: Vertical transmission of HIV is the main route of pediatric contamination in Sub-Saharan Africa, which despite everything remains insufficiently covered. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the care of the HIV-positive mother-child couple at the Provincial General Reference Hospital in Kinshasa according to the general recommendations of Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Program (PMCT). Methods: The present work is a retrospective study carried out mainly on the files of HIV-positive mother-child couples followed at the Kinshasa General Referral Hospital PMCT service, whose mothers were ≥18 years old and diagnosed positive for HIV using at least 2 screening tests during the period from February 2015 to March 2019. Results: Out of 206 files found in the PMCT service at the Hospital, 61 files (29.6%) were retained based on the completeness of the data in these files. The most represented age group is 23 to 27 years with 21 mothers (34.4%). Most mothers were married (59.0%). The majority of mothers tested positive for HIV were on WHO Stage 1 (72.1%). Most started Prenatal Consultation in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy (60.7%). The most common ARV treatment is the TDF + 3TC + EFV combination in 75.4% of mothers. The most common delivery method was the low route at 83.6%. More than half of the pregnancies carried gave birth to girls (55.7%). The most represented birth weight group was that of less than 2500 g with 27 children (39.2%). The most common ARV prophylaxis in children was Nevirapine in monotherapy (81.9%). Cotrimoxazole was supplemented in 81.9% of the children. After PCR diagnosis, 5 children (8.2%) were positive for HIV. Breastfeeding was the most common feeding method at 85.3%. Conclusion: Although the care of the mother-child couple is correct, the transmission rate still remains high at 8.2% at the Provincial General Reference Hospital of Kinshasa for the period evaluated.