Infection of pregnant women and their fetuses with HIV is increasing
alarmingly in the US, say medical authorities. According to the first wide
spread survey of its kind, some 80 000 women of childbearing age may be
infected with HIV. And between 1500 and 2100 babies could be born with HIV
In 1988, researchers from the government’s public health service began
surveying newborn infants at hospitals in 39 cities for infection. Those
babies with antibodies to HIV were assumed to have been exposed to their
mother’s viral infection while in the womb (although infants with antibodies
may not themselves be infected).
Last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (vol 265,
p 1704), the researchers revealed that in 1989, 6000 babies were born to
infected women. This translates into a rate of infection among women giving
birth in 1989 of 1.5 per 1000. The government’s Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) estimates that one-third of infants born to infected mothers will
also be infected. The rates of infection varied widely in different areas
of the country.