Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in Cameroon: Experiences from the University Teaching Hospital in Yaounde (Cameroon)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of nevirapine (NVP) in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTVT) of HIV-1 in children in the Yaounde University Teaching Hospital, Cameroon. This was a prospective and descriptive hospital-based study in which pre-counselled HIV-infected pregnant women who gave their consent were included. At the onset of labour a single dose of 200 mg oral NVP was administered to each woman. Their newborns were also given 2 mg/kg of oral NVP syrup within 72 hours of their birth. These NVP-treated babies were assessed at 6 weeks, 6 months and between 15 and 18 months for viral load levels, using a branched DNA technology. Viral load levels were classified as undetectable (< 50 copies/ml); intermediate (50-3 500 cp/ml) or high (> 3 500 cp/ml). Of the 350 women screened for HIV 22 (6.3 %) were positive for HIV-1, but only 18 children were duly tested until 18 months. Viral load levels were undetectable at 6 weeks in 61.1 % of the children; intermediate in 38.9 % and no child had a high VL (> 3 500 cp/ml). At 6 months 5 of 7 children with intermediate levels had dropped to undetectable levels. By 15-18 months, a total of 16 children (88.9 %) had undetectable levels while 2 children (11.1 %) with detectable levels were confirmed to be HIV positive using ELISA test and immunoblot analysis. We conclude that the rate of HIV-1 MTCT with NVP is about 11 % in CHU Yaounde.