JOHANNESBURG, 10 December 2009 (PlusNews)
The percentage of HIV-positive mothers who pass the virus to their newborn babies in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province has dropped by nearly two-thirds since dual antiretroviral (ARV) therapy was introduced for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT).
Before the national health department switched to dual therapy in January 2008, pregnant women testing HIV positive were given a single dose of the ARV drug, nevirapine, during labour, and their babies received a dose when they were born. But a 2005 study found that on the nevirapine-only regimen, one in five HIV-positive mothers were still transmitting the virus to their infants.
With dual therapy, HIV-positive women started receiving the ARV drug, zidovudine (AZT), from 28 weeks of pregnancy, as well as a single dose of nevirapine. Their babies received AZT for seven days after birth, and a dose of nevirapine.
Some provinces have been slow to roll out the new dual regimen, but a study conducted in six districts of KwaZulu-Natal between 2008 and 2009, revealed that the province rapidly implemented the revised PMTCT guidelines, bringing down transmission to as low as 4.3 percent in one district, and 7 percent on average.
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