Definition
Without any intervention, 14–48 % of HIV-infected women will transmit the infection to their newborn infant. The greatest risk of transmission occurs around the time of delivery, likely due to direct exposure to HIV, accounting for two-thirds of perinatal infections. Significant transmission also occurs in the antenatal period (25 %) and the postpartum period (15 %) if the mother breastfeeds (Simonon et al. 1994). Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV encompasses the range of biomedical and behavioral interventions that – used in combination and implemented fully – can reduce this rate of infant HIV infection to less than 2 % (European 2005). While vertical transmission of HIV has decreased dramatically in North America and Europe, progress has lagged in many resource-constrained settings for a number of contextual reasons. Over the past decade, however, numerous scientific, policy, and program advances have dramatically changed the landscape for PMTCT...
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Chibwesha, C.J., Rahangdale, L., Chi, B.H. (2016). Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT): Prevention of HIV. In: Hope, T., Stevenson, M., Richman, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of AIDS. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_255-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9610-6_255-1
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