Viral load levels below 500 copies per milliliter improve the health of the woman and minimize the risk of HIV transmission. In another study reported in the The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers tested the hypothesis that higher maternal viral loads independently increased the risk of transmission. The study also assessed whether the risk of transmission correlated more closely with higher viral loads earlier in pregnancy rather than later. The study's authors conclude that the level of plasma viral load predicts the risk of transmission but not its timing. Their results also seem to confirm two earlier findings Treatment with AZT during pregnancy reduces the risk of perinatal transmission, but not solely as a result of decreased viral load.
Most perinatal transmission seems to take place around birth.
Sharp drop in infection Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that substantial declines in the incidence of perinatal AIDS occurred in the United States between 1994 and 1998. The most likely explanation is implementation of the 1994 recommendations of the Public Health Service guidelines promoting routine, voluntary prenatal counseling and HIV antibody testing of pregnant women and the use of AZT prophylaxis to reduce perinatal HIV transmission. Another JAMA article investigates the risk of HIV transmission in Malawi through breast-feeding. These findings confirm an earlier meta-analysis of four previous studies of HIV transmission through breast feeding in Africa. Important in many ways The significance of these findings are broad and far-reaching for multiple reasons.