But both numbers may be soft due to underreporting. No states require the testing, and some mothers decline the tests. If they refuse testing, both mother and child are missing from the official HIV tallies. Infant deaths from pneumonia, a frequent opportunistic HIV disease, may be reported as simple pneumonia in areas where AIDS is relatively rare. Because for a baby to get AIDS, distinct sequential steps usually have to happen, and each of these offer an opportunity for intervention and prevention.
Early diagnosis translates into earlier treatment and better outcomes for both mother and baby.
But hospitals can't routinely require the test. Only then will every expectant parent know for sure. But bigger detection problems loom outside the health-care system. This may in part be due to state laws allowing babies of drug-using mothers to be taken from them and made wards of the court. That makes the problem even worse, because they don't even hear about testing or treatment options.