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AIDS Virus Hides Quickly Inside Babies' Blood |
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Drug-resistant HIV
strains that pass from mother to infant can go undetected in the baby's
immune system cells and remain there for years, according to a study by Dr.
Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and
colleagues.
Mother-to-child HIV transmission in the United States has been slowed by the
practice of treating both mother and baby at delivery, though it remains a
major cause of infection in the developing world. Without treatment, around
25 percent of newborns become infected, either during birth or later during
breastfeeding.
In addition, drug-resistant HIV is on the rise globally. HIV patients may
develop resistance to their HIV drugs, and this resistant strain can then
pass from person-to-person.
Persaud and colleagues studied 21 HIV-infected infants in 10 US states. Five
of the infants had been infected with drug-resistant HIV from their mothers.
The researchers found the infants' virus moved quickly to inactive or
resting CD4 T-cells. While the virus was resistant to the non-nucleoside
reverse transcriptase inhibitors class of drugs, another class, protease
inhibitors, worked.
"The initial transmitted drug-resistant virus will likely never be cleared
from that infant with currently available treatments," said Persaud.
Reuters (04.30.07) |
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