Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Preventing Perinatal Transmission Of Hiv Costs And Effectiveness Of A Recommended Intervention, Robin D. Gorsky, P G. Farnham, Walter L. Straus, Blake Caldwell, D R. Holtgrave, R. J. Simonds, M F. Rogers, Mary Guinan

Public Health Faculty Publications

In the United States, nearly all new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in children are acquired through perinatal (mother-to-infant) transmission. Each year, approximately 7000 infants are born to HIV-infected women in the United States.¹ Without intervention, an estimated 15-30% of these infants would become infected.² In 1994, results of the AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) Protocol 076 showed that treatment of infected pregnant women and their infants with zidovudine (ZDV) reduced the rate of perinatal HIV transmission from 25% to 8%.^3,4 Following these findings, the Public Health Service (PHS) issued recommendations for ZDV therapy to prevent perinatal …