Mother to child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission: what HIV-infected women think. Our experience in Rome, Italy.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the knowledge of the risk of HIV vertical transmission as well as the feeling about the new therapy in reducing that rate.


METHODS
We included 152 HIV-infected women. A self reported questionnaire was administered from September to December 2000.


RESULTS
About the risk rate of transmitting HIV to their baby, 21 (13.8%) women indicated 100%; 67 (44.1%) 50-80%; 35 (23%) 10-50% and only 22 women (14.5%) answered the correct value of less than 5%. Regarding the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy, 82 women (53.9%) considered therapy effective in reducing vertical HIV transmission, while 63 women (41.4%) considered therapy powerless in preventing mother to child HIV transmission. Any statistically significant difference in sociodemographic, clinical, viroimmunological characteristics and antiretroviral therapy emerged between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data highlight the importance of providing appropriate counselling about perinatal HIV transmission to all childbearing age HIV infected women.
Clinic of Infectious Diseases, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
E
E
Visconti
Lucia Pastore
LP
Celentano
Salvatore
S
Marinaci
Giancarlo
G
Scoppettuolo
Enrica
E
Tamburrini
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000523:psychology; D012384:Rome
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents