Prevalence of HIV infection in childbearing women in the United States: surveillance using newborn blood samples

Article Abstract:

The incidence of AIDS is increasing among women in the United States, and 75 percent of women with AIDS are of childbearing age. In addition, more than 80 percent of AIDS cases in children result from transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from the mother at birth. Most cases of HIV infection progress to AIDS after 10 years, during which time the virus may be transmitted to sex partners and children of HIV-infected women. Knowledge about the prevalence of HIV infection in women of childbearing age would help to increase our understanding of the HIV epidemic and its course, and to develop approaches for improving its prevention. A portion of the 1987 to 1988 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) comprehensive family of HIV seroprevalence surveys first assessed the prevalence of HIV infection in childbearing women in the United States and Puerto Rico. The results of this and the succeeding annual national surveys are presented. Blood samples from newborn infants were collected on filter paper as part of newborn metabolic screening. The blood samples were tested for the presence of maternal antibody to HIV, an immune protein that is specifically directed against HIV. Data were collected from 38 states and the District of Columbia. HIV seroprevalence, or the presence of HIV antibody, was highest in New York, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and Florida (ranging from 4.5 to 5.8 per 1,000 women giving birth in these states). On a national basis, it was estimated that 1.5 per 1,000 women who gave birth in 1989 were HIV-positive. If the rate of HIV transmission at childbirth is 30 percent, it is estimated that 1,800 infants became infected with HIV at childbirth over a given 12-month period. Based on these findings, the prevention of HIV transmission to women and their infants needs to be a major public health priority. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Statistics, Pregnancy, AIDS (Disease), AIDS (Disease) in pregnancy, AIDS (Disease) in children, Pediatric AIDS (Disease)

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The emerging genetic diversity of HIV: the importance of global surveillance for diagnostics, research, and prevention

Article Abstract:

Increased surveillance of HIV variants is necessary to determine their impact on human populations. Two types of HIV have been reported. HIV-1 is the virus predominant in the US and other countries, while HIV-2 has been reported from Western Africa. Each virus can mutate into subtypes. A single individual could contain several different, but related variants. HIV-1 has eight subtypes, designated A through H. The B subtype of HIV-1 is the predominant subtype in the US, and most of the diagnostic tests and vaccines have been based on subtype B. A worldwide surveillance system is needed to monitor the appearance and spread of different variants. Molecular techniques such as the polymerase chain reaction should improve the detection of variants. Research is needed to determine if different variants have different clinical effects.

Research, HIV (Viruses), HIV, Genetic aspects, Mutation (Biology), Mutation

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Prevalence of HIV infection in the United States, 1984 to 1992

Article Abstract:

The rate of HIV infection is not increasing substantially in the US but the disease will still be a major public health problem in the years to come. Researchers used several surveys including the Survey in Childbearing Women and the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to estimate the number of Americans infected with HIV. Approximately 650,000 to 900,000 people are infected, which amounts to 0.3% of the population. Infection rates are higher in Black and Hispanic men and women than in non-Hispanic whites. Half those infected were homosexual men and one-fourth were intravenous drug addicts.

Health aspects, Demographic aspects, Americans

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