Maternal age, infant age, feeding options, single/multiple pregnancy, type of twin sets and mother-to-child transmission of HIV

Background: Some risk factors for mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV have been identified. To further reduce MTCT, other risk factors were evaluated. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study on early infant diagnosis was conducted. Two-sided chi-square test was used to assess associations with infant HIV status. Results: A total of 15 233 HIV-infected mothers and 15 404 infants were recruited. MTCT rate was 9.34%. Only 3.8% of infants born to mothers on antiretroviral treatment were infected. Under nevirapine, 4.1% of infants were infected. MTCT increased with infant' age at testing. Younger mothers tend to transmit more HIV (P=0.003). More children were infected in single pregnancies compared with multiple pregnancies, P<0.001. There were more infections in male-female twins' sets (P=0.037). Conclusions: Maternal age, type of pregnancy and twins' sets are new MTCT risk factors. Strategies to further decrease transmission through family planning, pre/post natal consultations and clinical practices are needed.