HIV in pregnancy A woman becomes infected with HIV/AIDS during pregnancy. There are three basic conditions for mother-to-child transmission of HIV: pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. This is important because proper medical intervention can significantly reduce the risk of viral transmission, and untreated HIV/AIDS can lead to significant illness and death in both mother and baby. An example of this is data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Between 2014 and 2017 in the United States and Puerto Rico, where prenatal care is generally accessible, the United States and Puerto Rico had 10,257 babies. Maternal HIV infection occurred in the womb that was not infected and 244 exposed babies that were infected.
The burden of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including mother-to-child transmission of HIV, disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries, particularly countries in southern Africa. The most recent reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that there were 19.2 million women living with HIV worldwide in 2019, and there were 790,000 new infections acquired in this population in that year. They further report that there were 1.8 million children under the age of 15 living with HIV worldwide in 2019, and 150,000 new cases were contracted in this population in that year.
The risks of both neonatal HIV infection and maternal disease are reduced by appropriate prenatal screening, treatment of HIV infection with antiretroviral therapy (ART), and adherence to postpartum recommendations. In particular, without antiretroviral drugs, maternal interventions, and postpartum breastfeeding, there is an approximately 30% risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This risk is reduced to less than 2% when the previously described interventions are used.
HIV infection is not contraindicated for pregnancy. HIV-infected women can choose to become pregnant if they wish, however, they are encouraged to talk to their doctors beforehand. Significantly, 20-34% of women in the United States are unaware that they have HIV until they become pregnant and undergo prenatal screening.
Signs or symptoms of HIV.
Early, severe stage.
Early stages of HIV infection include rapid viral replication and infection. This stage usually lasts for 2–4 weeks after infection and then resolves spontaneously. About 50-90 adults experience symptoms during this stage of the infection. At this time, women may experience fever, sore throat, lethargy, swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea and itching. The rash is called maculopapular, which means it consists of flat and raised skin lesions, and it appears on the trunk, arms and legs but not on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet.
Intermediate, chronic / latent phase.
The middle stage of HIV infection can last for 7-10 years in a patient who is not treated with ART therapy. During this time, the virus itself is not inactive or inactive, but it separates within the lymph nodes, where it replicates at low levels. Women are usually asymptomatic during this period, but some may experience persistent fever, fatigue, weight loss, and swollen lymph nodes, called the AIDS-related complex (ARC).
Late, advanced / immunodeficient phase.
AIDS is caused by the progressive destruction of CD4T helper cells in the immune system by the HIV virus. AIDS is defined either by a CD4 cell count of less than 200 micro liters (indicating severe immunodeficiency), or by the development of a specific AIDS-related condition. Because they are immune, women at this stage are at risk of serious, opportunistic infections that the general population either does not contract or contracts very lightly. These types of infections cause significant illness and death in HIV / AIDS patients. People with such advanced HIV infections have an increased risk of neurological symptoms (eg dementia and neuropathy), and certain cancers.
Infant.
The clinical presentation of HIV in untreated infants is less predictable and specific than that of an adult infection. In particular, if HIV is diagnosed and treated appropriately, the symptoms and complications in the newborn are rare. Babies born with HIV are poorly diagnosed without ART therapy. If symptoms develop, the most common are persistent fever, general lymph node swelling, enlarged spleen or liver, growth retardation, and diarrhea. These babies can also develop opportunistic infections, especially recurrent oral thrush (candidiasis) or Candida diaper rash, pneumonia, or an invasive bacterial, viral, parasitic, or fungal infection.
Diagnosis / Screening.
Pregnancy planning.
The main factors to consider when planning a pregnancy for HIV-positive individuals are the risk of transmission of the disease between the sexual partners themselves and the risk of transmission of the disease to the fetus. Both risks can be minimized with proper birth planning and preventive care. Couples who have only one HIV-positive partner are at risk of transmitting HIV to an uninfected partner. These couples are known as serodiscordant couples. The CDC reports that HIV-positive people who are able to maintain an unrecognized viral load while receiving ART therapy are more likely to have sex through sex based on observational data from several large-scale studies. The risk of transmitting HIV to your partner is negligible.
When a person with HIV-positive brain hemorrhage does not have viral strain or does not know their viral status, the partner has more options to stop the transmission. The first option involves giving HIV-negative partner pre-exposure prophylaxis ART therapy, which involves taking a combination of medications once a day to prevent HIV transmission after sex without a condom. In couples where both men and women are HIV positive, conception can usually occur without worrying about transmitting the disease to each other. However, it is important for any HIV-positive mother to start and maintain appropriate ART therapy before and during pregnancy under the guidance of an HIV specialist to reduce the risk of prenatal transmission in the fetus.
Sometimes, however, a person can be infected with HIV but the body has not developed enough antibodies to detect it through tests. If a woman has risk factors for HIV infection or symptoms of a severe infection but the initial screening test is negative, she should be tested again in 3 months to confirm that she is not HIV positive. Yes, or he should get more tests with HIV RNA. Test, which may be positive before antibody / antigen immunoassay.
Which testing should I do?
All pregnant women should be tested for syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis B early in pregnancy. Pregnant women are at risk, so they should be tested for Chlamydia and gonorrhea early in pregnancy. These tests should be repeated to protect the health of pregnant women.
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