Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( Hiv ) - 1775 Words

Perinatal Transmission Adults are not the only population affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Children are also affected by this virus. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2013), in the United States, there is more than a 90% decline in children who are infected with HIV prenatally since the mid-1990s. This is due to HIV testing and preventive interventions. The most common route of HIV infection in children is through perinatal transmission. Perinatal transmission is when a mother passes the infection to her baby. This transmission is through labor and delivery, breastfeeding, or during pregnancy (CDC, 2013). In 2013, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated HIV perinatal†¦show more content†¦Breastfeeding In 2009, Mofenson et al (2009), stated the CDC criteria for laboratories to allow possible exclusion of the HIV infection at an early age is as such: A child who has not been breast-fed is presumed to be uninfected if he or she has no clinical or laboratory evidence of HIV infection and has two negative virologic tests both obtained at ≠¥2 weeks of age and one obtained at ≠¥4 weeks of age and no positive viralogic tests; or one negative virologic test at ≠¥8 weeks of age and no positive virologic tests; or one negative HIV-antibody test at ≠¥6 months of age. Definitive lack of infection is confirmed by two negative viral tests, both of which were obtained at ≠¥1 month of age and one of which was obtained at ≠¥4 months of age, or at least two negative HIV-antibody tests from separate specimens obtained at ≠¥6 months of age (Mofenson et al., 2009). Breastfeeding may or may not impact Virologic tests. It is an important decision for a HIV positive mother has to make for her infant. This decision can affect laboratory testing for these vulnerable children. There are other findings that suggest that when HIV-positive mothers exclusively breastfeed, it lowers the risk of postnatal transmission. In 2005, Iliff et al. stated when an infant 3 months of age born to an HIV-positive mother is introduced to animal milk and solid food before this age they are a greater risk of postnatal transmission. This transmission risk through postnatal