title: Strategies for the prevention of mother to child transmission in Western countries: an update.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During the last decades remarkable scientific advances have been made toward the prevention of HIV mother-to-child transmission, in particular in developed nations. The aim of this review was to analyze the latest findings and available international recommendations on the prevention of HIV mother-to-child transmission in high-income countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a literature search of the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE by PubMed and EMBASE from database inception through June 2014, using the following terms: HIV, mother-to-child transmission and mother-to-child-transmission prevention. All types of articles in the English language were included. US and available European guidelines were searched and included in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred fifty articles were selected for inclusion in this review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Global epidemiology of HIV infection is rapidly evolving, in particular in high-resource countries. The interpretation of clinical and epidemiological studies is crucial for the development of evidence-based recommendations to guide the management of HIV mother-to-child transmission. Although significant progress has been made, heterogeneity between countries in specific interventions still exists, which may address future research.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Italy; and †Infectious Disease Unit, Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sollai
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noguera-Julian
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.forename: Clàudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fortuny
authors.forename: Ángela
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Deyà
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Martino
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chiappini
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009035:Mothers; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents