Hello,
There has been some discussions this week on HIV transmission, and today I
just received a digest from AWHONN ( Association of Women's Health, Obstetric
and Neonatal Nurses) with some recent information.
Thought others would find this interesting.
Roni Chastain, RN, FACCE

************************AWHONN eNews****************************
February 1998
Issue 2 Volume 2

***Health in the News***

**Detecting HIV in newborns**
A recent report says a newly-developed assay appears to detect the
reverse transcriptase enzyme in HIV-infected newborns up to two weeks
earlier than is possible with other currently-used tests.  Researchers
at Emory University used stored plasma samples from 56 HIV-infected
newborns  to test the new Amp-RT assay; samples were also analyzed using
an HIV DNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay.  In samples taken at
five days of life the new assay detected HIV infection in 50% of
samples, compared to 30% of samples tested for RNA with the older assay
and 20% tested for DNA with the older method.  Authors say the earlier
assessment of HIV in newborns could allow for more effective and
accurate treatment.  The findings were presented at the Fifth Conference
on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Chicago (February,
1998).

**Preventing mother-to-infant HIV transmission**
A recent report concludes that a shorter, less-expensive regimen of the
AIDS drug AZT can significantly reduce the risk of mother-to-infant HIV
transmission.  The treatment has been used since 1994 in pregnant women
beginning in the 26th week of pregnancy to prevent such vertical
transmission of HIV. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
say studies have shown that AZT treatment begun in the 36th week of
pregnancy reduces the risk of vertical HIV transmission from 18.6% to
9.2%.  The report says the lower costs of the shorter treatment regimen
will make such treatment available to more people worldwide.  Authors
say the positive findings have prompted the cessation of
placebo-controlled studies associated with the treatment. Data taken
from a CDC release (February 19, 1998).