Scientists Explore Breastfeeding, HIV Link

A new report released Tuesday indicates the majority of breastfed infants with HIV-positive mothers remain uninfected, even after months of exposure.

A new report released Tuesday indicates the majority of breastfed infants with HIV-positive mothers remain uninfected, even after months of exposure. Although prolonged breastfeeding is well known to be a major route of HIV transmission to infants and is estimated to cause one-third to one-half of infant HIV infections worldwide, most of the breastfed infants resist infection. Investigators at Emory University School of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Emory Vaccine Center, and the University of Paris reviewed current scientific literature to pinpoint the reasons why many breastfed infants resist HIV, with the goal of devising future intervention strategies to prevent the occurence of newborn infections. The findings were published online in November and will appear in the December issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The researchers say advances in laboratory methods will help scientists clarify which immune factors are most important in HIV protection and help in the development of intervention strategies. (Source: MEDline Plus, United Press International November 2003)