Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission May Not Be
Raised With Exclusive Breast-Feeding


WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Mar 12 - Infants who are exclusively breast-fed
by HIV-infected mothers for at least 3 months may not be at greater risk of
becoming infected than infants of HIV-infected mothers who never breast-feed.

In a study reported in the February 16th issue of AIDS, Dr. Anna Coutsoudis,
from
the University of Natal, in South Africa, and colleagues assessed the impact
of
breast-feeding on the rate of HIV transmission to infants of 157 HIV-infected
women who never breast-fed, 118 who exclusively breast-fed for 3 months or
more, and 276 who breast-fed and used formula.

The authors found that, up to 6 months, the cumulative probability of HIV
detection
in never and exclusively breast-fed infants was the same (0.194 in both
groups),
while it was higher (0.261) in mixed-fed infants. By 15 months, exclusive
breast-feeders had the lowest risk of all three groups.

Although it is unclear why exclusive breast-feeding may be safer than mixed
feeding,
the investigators "favor the hypothesis that contaminated fluids and foods
introduced
in mixed breast-fed babies damage the bowel and facilitate entry into the
tissues of
HIV in breast milk."

"It is imperative that further studies be undertaken by other groups working
at
different sites to test the reproducibility of these findings," Dr.
Coutsoudis' team
concludes.

AIDS 2001;15:379-387.

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