During pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding for an HIV-positive mother, a new treatment can help cut the risk of mother-to child transmission of HIV by 43 percent, according to a new study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases.
In developing countries, where clean water may be scarce, breastfeeding is often the only option for feeding a new baby. Additionally, many families cannot afford infant formula. Often mothers with HIV have been advised to breastfeed their babies even though it carried the risk of transmitting the virus to a child.
The Kesha Bora study (‘A better future’ in Swahili) was a randomized controlled trial conducted in five sites in Africa. Involving more than 1,600 mothers over the course of three years, the study has demonstrated the success of a triple antiretroviral treatment in helping to protect the health of their child.
The findings offer new hope for preventing HIV infection and death among infants in low-resource settings where many HIV-positive mothers have no choice but to breastfeed.
Funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, this new approach will increase the chances of mothers living with HIV to breastfeed with reduced risk of passing on the virus to their babies.