Pregnant women who took antiretroviral medication for HIV could have children with a better risk for developmental delays at age of 5, recent research has found.
The findings of the brand new Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort study highlighted the necessity to watch the neurodevelopment of youngsters whose moms took antiretrovirals while pregnant.
Nonetheless, the researchers affirmed that it remains to be vital for girls with HIV to take antiretroviral therapy while pregnant to stop transmission of the disease to their fetuses.
HIV Treatment During Pregnancy
A lady who has HIV can pass the infection to the infant while pregnant, through labor, delivery and even breastfeeding.
HIV treatment while pregnant goals to guard the health of the mother and forestall perinatal transmission to the fetus.
Anti-HIV drugs decrease the quantity of the virus within the body. Antiretroviral therapy protected around 15.4 million children under 15 who were exposed to HIV within the womb in 2020.
The medics recommend pregnant women with HIV to take antiretrovirals as soon as possible during their pregnancy. As well as, those women who’re already on an efficient HIV treatment regimen are suggested to proceed the treatment throughout their pregnancy.
The doctors also recommend cesarean delivery for those women who’ve high or unknown viral loads near the time of delivery.
Antiretrovirals And Developmental Delays
Although successful in stopping perinatal transmission of HIV, early research suggested that antiretrovirals may increase the chances of delays in language, cognitive skills and behavioral challenges amongst children. Nonetheless, it was unclear in those studies if the medications caused the delays or if it was attributable to other aspects equivalent to poor parental health, substance use or insufficient nutrition and oxygen.
Researchers also noticed that almost all studies only evaluated individual areas of neurodevelopment. Consequently, the newest research was focused on the potential effects of the therapy on three aspects of development, including language, emotional-behavioral development and cognition.
Amongst 230 children whose moms received drug treatment for HIV while pregnant, 15% had lower scores in a single area of development and eight% faced difficulties in no less than two of the three areas of development.
For those 461 children whose moms began antiretrovirals while pregnant, 21% had a delay in a single area of development, while 12% suffered delays in no less than two of the three developmental areas, the study found.
The researchers also compared the results of drug regimens with atazanavir to drug combos without it. They found that those on atazanavir were at 70% higher risk of facing developmental delays in children.
Researchers still recommend the usage of antiretrovirals while suggesting the necessity for monitoring the neurodevelopment in children whose moms used them while pregnant.
CDC officials approve “sperm washing” as an efficient technique for mixed HIV status couples to have a protected and successful pregnancy.
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