Hello,

My name is Carole Walker and I am a student at the University of North
Dakota.  I have been reading the Lactnet messages for about six weeks now
and have been amazed and excited about all the information I have been
acquiring.

I am posting this message due to my own interest in AIDS research and
also to find out any new research concerning AIDS and breast-feeding that
I may have missed.

I first want to say that I searched the archives to find out what has
been discussed in the past concerning AIDS and breast-feeding.  The
general agreement by several lactnetters and also stated by (Quintanilla,
1996) is as follows: "in developing countries the advantages of
breast-feeding outweigh the possible risk of infection with HIV."

I very much agree with the above statement but I also found an
interesting article that says "Perhaps there is a place for infant
formula distribution, even in impoverished countries.  However, before
policy makers embrace artificial feeding as the "solution" to this tragic
situation, the feasibility and ramifications of such a policy must be
discussed."  (Nommsen-Rivers & Heinig 1997).  The authors of the article
than go on to discuss the different questions that arise when dealing
with this issue.  I have to add that this article by no means is in favor
of ABM, what I got out of it though is that we must be knowledgeable and
up to date on the latest information concerning AIDS and BF as well as
AIDS and ABM.

One other thing I wanted to bring up was an article about Zidovudine and
breast-feeding.  I hadn't seen anything about it in the archives (I could
have missed it) and wanted to share the information.  The most
significant data from the article is as follows: "As compared with
infants born to untreated mothers, the risk of acquiring HIV-1 infection
by infants of AZT-treated mothers may be lowered by a possible effect of
intrapartum AZT on viral load in colostrum and/or early milk." (Van de
Perre, et al. 1997).  The authors note that the mechanisms of how the AZT
reduces the risk of MTCT of HIV-1 has yet to be determined.

I had better quit writing as this is getting long.  Any comments would be
appreciated.  Thank you.

REFERENCES
        Nommsen-Rivers, L. & Heinig, M.J. (1997).  HIV transmission via
breast-feeding: Reflections on the issues.  Journal of Human Lactation
13(3), 179-181.

        Quintanilla, K. (1996).  Can HIV be transmitted through breast
milk?  Nursing Times 92(31), 35-37.

        Van de Perre, P., Meda, N., Cartous, M., Mandelbrot, L., Leroy,
V., Dabis, F., & Salamon, R.  (1997).  Zidovudine and breast-feeding.
AIDS Patient Care and STD's 11(3), 4-6.