6 HIV and pregnancy

6.11 ARVs and the baby's health

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Exposure to ARVs

The biggest risk, to a baby born to a mother with HIV, is HIV itself. Combination therapy can prevent this.

Children who were first exposed to AZT monotherapy during their mothers' pregnancy will not be older than 15 today. Children first exposed to combination therapy will not be more than 6 years old now.

This is the limit of long-term follow up of children of mothers who have used these drugs in pregnancy. But careful follow-up of children exposed to AZT has not shown any differences to other children so far.

Prematurity

There was initial caution over the use of protease inhibitors. This was over possible links to prematurity (delivery before 37 weeks) and low birth rate.

Abnormality

No particular abnormality in children has so far been linked to exposure to HIV treatment.

Development

So far no adverse effects on children's development have been reported.

Mitochondrial toxicity

Mitochondria are the energy producing factories that live within our cells.

A small number of reports link use of 3TC and AZT in pregnancy to mitochondrial damage in children.

But a large study did not show evidence of fatal mitochondrial damage in children exposed to 3TC and AZT during their mothers' pregnancy.