Vertical transmission rate of human immunodeficiency virus amid formula-fed infants in a resource-constrained tertiary hospital in Jos, Nigeria

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can be transmitted from infected mother to her baby.

Objective: To assess transmission rate of HIV from seropositive mothers on highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) to their formula-fed babies.

Method: A cross-sectional study of 65 paired mothers on HAART and their formula-fed babies was carried out. Polymerase chain reaction-deoxyribonucleic acid (PCR-DNA) of the babies was done at six weeks of age. Epi info was used to analyse data.

Results: Mean age of mothers was 30.26 ± 0.5 years. About 73.8% of the paired mothers were diagnosed with HIV before their current pregnancies and 69.2% initiated HAART before their current pregnancies. Duration of HAART use was between three months and two years. Modes of deliveries were caesarean section (15.4%) and vaginal route (84.6%). Only one (1.5%) of the babies was positive to PCR-DNA test at six weeks of age. There was no statistically significant association between the baby’s PCR-DNA at six weeks of age and the mode of delivery (OR-0.0047, CI-95%, Fisher Exact=0.8461) as well as between the time of initiation of HAART by the paired mothers and the paired baby’s PCR-DNA results (RR-0.9778, CI-95%, Fisher Exact=0.6923).

Conclusions: Overall mother to child transmission (MTCT) rate in this study was 1.5%. Use of HAART for more than three months, irrespective of delivery route, is capable of significantly reducing MTCT of HIV even in resource-constrained settings.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2015; 44(3): 153-157