Mother to Child transmission of HIV

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When HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) was first discovered as a disease in 1980, the affected individuals were stigmatized to the extreme. HIV/AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was first reported with homosexuals and IV drug users, which led the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to label the disease as Gay-related Immune Deficiency, as “gay” individuals were synonymous “drug users” due to their similar activities in the 1980’s (Stine 22). However, it soon became clear that female population were just as susceptible to contracting HIV as males.
HIV positive women were first reported in the late 1980s. AIDS is the final stage of HIV where the immune system is compromised. The virus causes severe damage to the immune system that even the simplest yeast infection can be deadly because the body will not have a functional immune system. HIV positive women who are still healthy and did not progress into AIDS, could have a normal pregnancy. However, HIV positive mothers could transmit the virus to their unborn child during pregnancy, this is known as mother to child transmission (MTC). Stoto states that in the United States, over 6,000 HIV infected women give birth every year and about one-third is estimated to give birth to HIV positive babies (Stoto1). HIV positive born children without any medication will not live up to an adolescent age and up to 50% can die within their first year. Stine points out without medication, “HIV-infected children lived to an average age of 9” (Stine 347). This became a serious concern in the scientific community due to the risks involved for the children.

In United States, the HIV epidemic reached its peak in the 1980s when the number of infected reached 130,000 people per year. Infected women ...

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...or Disease Control and Prevention, 2007. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Eliminating Perinatal HIV Transmission." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
Mofenson, L. "Achievements in Public Health: Reduction in Perinatal Transmission of HIV Infection --- United States, 1985--2005." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 June 2006. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
Stine, Gerald James. AIDS Update 2012: An Annual Overview of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Stoto, Michael A., Donna A. Almario, and Marie C. McCormick. Reducing the Odds: Preventing Perinatal Transmission of HIV in the United States. Washington, D.C.: National Academy, 1999. Print.

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