Breastfeeding to prevent HIV transmission in infants: balancing pros and cons
- 1 February 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 21 (1), 11-15
- https://doi.org/10.1097/qco.0b013e3282f40689
Abstract
In industrialized countries avoidance of breastfeeding is among the cornerstones of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Breastfeeding carries risk for HIV transmission but improves survival, whereas formula feeding carries zero risk for transmission but increased risk for mortality. We assesses breastfeeding is a rational and viable option for HIV-infected women in poor environments.A number of recent studies, mostly from Africa, have provided new data that enable health workers to offer HIV-positive women clear advice on infant feeding appropriate to their individual circumstances. The studies are grouped according to whether the evidence favours one or other feeding type and are considered under the following headings: equivalence of formula feeding and breastfeeding; breastfeeding, HIV disease progression and mortality in mothers; breast superior to formula; breastfeeding for HIV-infected babies; and reducing risk for transmission while breastfeeding.The weight of current evidence favours exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission for most HIV-infected mothers globally, most of whom live in poor communities; exclusive breastfeeding may also benefit HIV-infected babies. Formula feeding appears to be equivalent to breastfeeding in terms of survival and transmission risk during the first 2 years of life in some settings.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- HIV, infant feeding, and survival: old wine in new bottles, but brimming with promiseAIDS, 2007
- Preserving breastfeeding practice through the HIV pandemicTropical Medicine & International Health, 2007
- Treatment acceleration program and the experience of the DREAM program in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIVAIDS, 2007
- Mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 infection during exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life: an intervention cohort studyThe Lancet, 2007
- Two-Year Morbidity–Mortality and Alternatives to Prolonged Breast-Feeding among Children Born to HIV-Infected Mothers in Côte d'IvoirePLoS Medicine, 2007
- Balancing maternal and infant benefits and the consequences of breast-feeding in the developing world during the era of HIV infection.The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2007
- Breastfeeding Plus Infant Zidovudine Prophylaxis for 6 Months vs Formula Feeding Plus Infant Zidovudine for 1 Month to Reduce Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in BotswanaJAMA, 2006
- The National Breastfeeding Policy in Nigeria: The Working Mother and the LawHealth Care for Women International, 2005
- Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Infection in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral TherapyClinical Infectious Diseases, 2005
- Advances in the prevention of vertical transmission of human immunodeficiency virusSeminars in Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 2003