scholarly journals RISK FACTORS OF HIV-1 VERTICAL TRANSMISSION (VT) AND THE INFLUENCE OF ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART) IN PREGNANCY OUTCOME

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria F.M. Barral ◽  
Gisele R. de Oliveira ◽  
Rubens C. Lobato ◽  
Raul A. Mendoza-Sassi ◽  
Ana M.b. Martínez ◽  
...  

In the absence of intervention, the rate of vertical transmission of HIV can range from 15-45%. With the inclusion of antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy and the choice of delivery route this amounts to less than 2%. However ARV use during pregnancy has generated several questions regarding the adverse effects of the gestational and neonatal outcome. This study aims to analyze the risk factors for vertical transmission of HIV-1 seropositive pregnant women living in Rio Grande and the influence of the use of ARVs in pregnancy outcome. Among the 262 pregnant women studied the rate of vertical transmission of HIV was found to be 3.8%. Regarding the VT, there was a lower risk of transmission when antiretroviral drugs were used and prenatal care was conducted at the referral service. However, the use of ART did not influence the outcome of pregnancy. However, initiation of prenatal care after the first trimester had an influence on low birth weight, as well as performance of less than six visits increased the risk of prematurity. Therefore, the risk factors analyzed in this study appear to be related to the realization of inadequate pre-natal and maternal behavior.

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S167-S167
Author(s):  
Tripti Adhikari ◽  
Rachel Scott ◽  
Utsav Timalsina ◽  
Ariunzaya Amgalan ◽  
Shari L Sawney ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Prevalence of HCV in pregnancy is 0.1–3.6%. AASLD and IDSA now recommend HCV screening in pregnancy although CDC, USPSTF, or ACOG still do not—though HCV can be perinatally transmitted and carries associated complications for the mother and fetus. Our study objectives were to analyze prenatal HCV screening practices at a large regional healthcare system and the prevalence of HCV-associated maternal and fetal/neonatal outcomes. Methods We performed a nested propensity score (PS) case–control study of pregnant women who tested HCV Ab+ in a cross-sectional study of women presenting for prenatal care at a large regional healthcare system from January 17 to December 18. We collected retrospective EHR data, including state of residency, HCV Ab, RNA, care engagement, HCV risk factors, comorbidities, maternal and fetal/neonatal morbidity, and neonatal HCV testing (when available). Mixed and generalized linear models were used to examine differences in continuous and categorical variables, respectively, between cases and controls Results 14,363 women were seen for prenatal care; 4,891 (34%) were HCV tested, 75 (1.5%) tested HCV Ab+. Demographic and comorbidity data are shown in Table 1. HCV Ab+ cases had more co-morbidities, including obesity, heart disease, opioid use, and behavioral health issues compared with the controls. HCV risk factors included IVDU (64%) and tattoos (24%) (Figure 1). Neither past/current pregnancy-related complications nor fetal or neonatal adverse events (Figure 2) were statistically significantly different except for cholestasis in HCV Ab+ cases (5.3 vs. 0%, P = 0.04). Conclusion Our study showed only one-third of pregnant women are currently HCV screened in our health system. Universal screening would likely increase the number of HCV-infected women identified. Early HCV detection, repeated testing, and behavioral health intervention of those at high-risk may decrease further horizontal and vertical transmission of HCV in pregnancy. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Author(s):  
Arti Sharma ◽  
Shubhra Agarwal ◽  
Garima Bajpai ◽  
Anupriya Singh ◽  
Nikita Agarwal ◽  
...  

Background: Viral hepatitis is the most common liver disease in pregnancy and is also the most common cause of jaundice in pregnancy in tropical countries. Risk factors for transmission are intravenous drug abuse, surgical and dental procedures done without adequate sterilization of instruments, sexual route etc. Early diagnosis and management can prevent maternal and fetal complications. This study was done to evaluate the frequency, risk factors and pregnancy outcome in hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive antenatal women.Methods: This case control study was conducted in Teerthankar Mahaveer Medical College and Research Centre, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India from January 2017 to June 2018 on total 2511 pregnant women. The serum samples were checked for presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and presence of IgG antibodies to HCV. Analysis of sociodemographic profile, risk factors and pregnancy outcome were done in all HBV and HCV positive women.Results: Out of 2511 pregnant women, 292 were tested positive for hepatitis. Maximum number of women were in the age group of 21-30 years. Most of the seropositive women were multipara. Frequency of positivity was maximum for HCV (67.1%). The risk factors for transmission in study population were intravenous drug abuse, blood transfusion, history of surgery and tattooing.Conclusions: Hepatitis infection rate is increasing. Universal screening for HBV and HCV can be recommended in pregnant women in developing countries. Education and awareness of public and health care workers can reduce the risk of transmission. 


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1107
Author(s):  
Anna Franca Cavaliere ◽  
Simona Zaami ◽  
Marta Pallottini ◽  
Federica Perelli ◽  
Annalisa Vidiri ◽  
...  

Background: Tdap and flu immunization in pregnancy has been proven to be both effective and safe. Despite this, the vaccination rate in pregnant women is low in Italy. The COVID-19 pandemic has focused the attention of public opinion on communicable diseases, underlining the importance of primary prevention measures such as vaccination. We conducted a survey to investigate the behavior of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding maternal immunization to identify the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in order to overcome them. The new challenge is COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy, and preliminary data show hesitancy towards it. Our analysis may be useful to improve immunization in the pregnant population, including through the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: A targeted survey was performed in Italy including 520 women who experienced in the first trimester of pregnancy, prior to the novel coronavirus spread, the 2019–2020 influenza vaccination campaign and the Tdap vaccine recommendation in the third trimester during the COVID pandemic. They represent a unique model to investigate if the new coronavirus outbreak might have changed attitudes towards vaccination in pregnancy in the same patients. Data were collected from a self-completed paper questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were calculated and percentages were compared using the chi-2 test or Fisher’s exact test. Results: We obtained data from 195 of the 520 women who gave birth during the inclusion period; 325 cases declined to participate in the survey. A total of 8.7% (17 cases) performed flu vaccination in the first trimester of pregnancy (pre-COVID era), 50.8% (99 cases) accepted Tdap immunization during their third trimester of gestation (COVID-19 pandemic) and 6.7% (13 cases) received both vaccines during pregnancy. For both the flu and Tdap shots, pregnant patients were more likely to accept the vaccines if they were recommended by a healthcare provider, whereas the main reason not to be vaccinated was the lack of such a recommendation. Conclusions: Our survey shows that the COVID-19 experience, which has raised awareness as to the role of vaccines in preventable diseases, may positively change attitudes toward immunization in pregnancy. Vaccination must be recommended to all pregnant women and organized during routine prenatal care as an important element for the prevention of communicable diseases. Vaccination hesitancy can be minimized through consistent recommendation to all pregnant women offered by obstetric staff during routine prenatal care. This approach is likely to be effective in terms of building trust in flu and Tdpa immunization among pregnant women, as well as to avoid unjustified hesitancy towards the more recent COVID-19 vaccines.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 866
Author(s):  
Masatoki Kaneko ◽  
Junsuke Muraoka ◽  
Kazumi Kusumoto ◽  
Toshio Minematsu

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the leading cause of neurological sequelae in infants. Understanding the risk factors of primary CMV infection is crucial in establishing preventive strategies. Thus, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to identify risk factors of vertical transmission among pregnant women with immunoglobulin (Ig) M positivity. The study included 456 pregnant women with IgM positivity. Information on age, parity, occupation, clinical signs, IgM levels, and IgG avidity index (AI) was collected. The women were divided into infected and non-infected groups. The two groups showed significant differences in IgM level, IgG AI, number of women with low IgG AI, clinical signs, and number of pregnant women with single parity. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, pregnant women with single parity and low IgG AI were independent predictors. Among 40 women who tested negative for IgG antibody in their previous pregnancy, 20 showed low IgG AI in their current pregnancy. Among the 20 women, 4 had vertical transmission. These results provide better understanding of the risk factors of vertical transmission in pregnant women with IgM positivity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerina Duri ◽  
◽  
Simbarashe Chimhuya ◽  
Exnevia Gomo ◽  
Privilege Tendai Munjoma ◽  
...  

Introduction Despite being a leading infectious cause of childhood disability globally, testing for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in pregnancy is generally not done in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA), where breastfeeding practice is almost universal. Whilst CMV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are both endemic in SSA, the relationship between antenatal plasma CMV-DNA, HIV-1-RNA levels and HIV-1-mother to child transmission (MTCT) including pregnancy outcomes remains poorly described. Methods Pregnant women at least 20 weeks’ gestational age at enrolment were recruited from relatively poor high-density suburbs in Harare, Zimbabwe. Mother-infant dyads were followed up until 6 months postpartum. In a case–control study design, we tested antenatal plasma CMV-DNA levels in all 11 HIV-1 transmitting mothers, as well as randomly selected HIV-infected but non-transmitting mothers and HIV-uninfected controls. CMV-DNA was detected and quantified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Antenatal plasma HIV-1-RNA load was quantified by reverse transcriptase PCR. Infants’ HIV-1 infection was detected using qualitative proviral DNA-PCR. Predictive value of antenatal plasma CMV-DNAemia (CMV-DNA of > 50 copies/mL) for HIV-1-MTCT was analyzed in univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Associations of CMV-DNAemia with HIV-1-RNA levels and pregnancy outcomes were also explored. Results CMV-DNAemia data were available for 11 HIV-1 transmitting mothers, 120 HIV-infected but non-transmitting controls and 46 HIV-uninfected mothers. In a multivariate logistic regression model, we found a significant association between CMV-DNAemia of > 50 copies/mL and HIV-1 vertical transmission (p = 0.035). There was no difference in frequencies of detectable CMV-DNAemia between HIV-infected and -uninfected pregnant women (p = 0.841). However, CMV-DNA levels were higher in immunosuppressed HIV-infected pregnant women, CD4 < 200 cells/µL (p = 0.018). Non-significant associations of more preterm births (< 37 weeks, p = 0.063), and generally lower birth weights (< 2500 g, p = 0.450) were observed in infants born of HIV-infected mothers with CMV-DNAemia. Furthermore, in a multivariate analysis of HIV-infected but non-transmitting mothers, CMV-DNAemia of > 50 copies/mL correlated significantly with antenatal plasma HIV-1-RNA load (p = 0.002). Conclusion Antenatal plasma CMV-DNA of > 50 copies/mL may be an independent risk factor for HIV-1-MTCT and higher plasma HIV-1-RNA load, raising the possibility that controlling antenatal CMV-DNAemia might improve infant health outcomes. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to confirm our findings.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S1002-S1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keren Shahar-Nissan ◽  
Joseph Pardo ◽  
Orit Peled ◽  
Irit Krause ◽  
Efraim Bilavsky ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection in humans. The highest risk of fetal injury follows a maternal primary infection early in pregnancy. Despite the potential for severe fetal injury, to date there are no proven means to prevent viral transmission. Valacyclovir is an antiviral drug proven effective in decreasing the risk for CMV infection among transplant recipients. Valacyclovir is safe for use in pregnancy, and concentrates in the amniotic fluid without accumulating. A dose of 8 g/day creates therapeutic drug levels in the amniotic fluid and fetal blood. Methods This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study comprising pregnant women with serologic evidence of primary CMV infection during the periconceptional period and first trimester. After informed consent, patients were randomly assigned to a treatment group (8 g/day of Valacyclovir) or control group (placebo). Treatment was initiated at the time of serological detection, and continued until amniocentesis. The primary endpoint was the rate of vertical transmission of CMV—determined by amniotic fluid CMV PCR. Secondary endpoints included evidence of symptomatic congenital CMV infection—in utero or postnatally. Results One hundred women were recruited, 90 were included in the data analysis; 45 patients received Valacyclovir and 45 placebo. There were 2 twin pregnancies, and therefore 92 amniocentesis Amongst the Valacyclovir group, 5 (11.1%) amniocentesis were positive for CMV, compared with 14 (29.8%) in the placebo group (P GLMM = 0.03), corresponding with an odds ratio of 0.29 (95% CI: 0.09–0.90) for vertical CMV transmission. Amongst patients infected during the first trimester, a positive amniocentesis for CMV was significantly (P = 0.02) less likely in the Valacyclovir arm (2/19) compared with placebo (11/23). No significant differences (P = 0.91) in CMV-positive amniocentesis were observed between study arms amongst patients infected periconceptionally. Conclusion Valacyclovir at a dose of 8 g/day is effective in reducing the rate of fetal CMV infection following early maternal primary infection during pregnancy. The drug reduces the rate of fetal infection by 71%. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


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