Abstract
From 1986 to 1991 the Swiss neonatal HIV study, a registry of children of HIV-infected mothers for the whole country, has noted a remarkably constant rate of around 50 new babies registered each year. This study analyses maternal data for possible clues to the underlying dynamics of the female HIV-infected population.
Methods: Data collected at registration to the study were analysed for all 295 children with years of birth 1986 - 1991. 245 children (83%) were registered at birth, the others only later, when their maternal HIV infection became known.
Results: The following variables showed no significant changes during the study period: geographical distribution among the different regions of Switzerland, number of children registered only after detection of symptomatic HIV infection (1986: 3, 1987: 2, 1988: 3, 1989: 3, 1990: 1, 1991: 0), median maternal age (increase from 25 to 27, not significant), proportion of primiparous women (64%). Maternal risk factors for HIV infection changed considerably: Intravenous drug use (1VDU) from 81% in 1986 to 44% in 1991, heterosexual risk factors from 18% to 50% (p = 0.034).
Discussion: Stable geographical distribution and low numbers of children with symptoms at registration do not support the hypothesis that decreasing rates of registration of a really increasing incidence of births to HIV-infected mothers give a false impression of stability. Rather the increasing rates of deliveries of heterosexually infected mothers have been counterbalanced by the decrease among the mothers infected by IVDU. This latter decrease may be related to preventive efforts among drug users.
Conclusion: The stable incidence of births to HIV-infected mothers from 1986 to 1991 seems to be real, but an increasing proportion of deliveries of heterosexually infected women predicts a possible increase in incidence for the nineties, if effective prevention cannot be established in this segment of the population.
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Kind, C. STABLE INCIDENCE OF BIRTHS TO HIV-INFECTED MOTHERS IN SWITZERLAND 1986 TO 1991: APPARENT OR REAL?. Pediatr Res 32, 622 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00107
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00107
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