RAPID HIV TESTING AS TOOL TO PREVENT MOTHER-TO-CHILD TRANSMISSION (MTCT) IN A HIGH RISK AREA, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.

M. CERIOTTO,; S. MATTONI,; S. LUCIANO,; G. MALIGNE,; N. SCHVACHSA,; M. GÓMEZ CARRILLO,; M. AVILA

Paris, France

Conferencia; The 2nd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and treatment,; 2003

International AIDS Society

Introduction: MTCT remains a public health problem in Argentina, despite the availability of free of charge testing and ARV therapy. A major obstacle is the inadequate prenatal care (IPC), which reaches 30% of pregnant women in some sites. Objectives: To reduce mother to- child HIV transmission through the use of rapid HIV test in women with inadequate prenatal care. Methodology: Between January and December 2001, rapid HIV test (RT) (Determine R, Abbott) was offered to all women admitted to the hospital with >34 weeks pregnant and not documented HIV results available. Double-blind confirmation by ELISA (and WB when necessary) was carried out in the laboratory of the CNRS and local Lab. Results: 559 out of 1796 pregnant women (31%) were detected with IPC. In this group 16 women were detected HIV positive, 11 of whom by RT. All samples had 100% correlation when analysed in the CNRS and local laboratory. It was possible to initiate ARV in the 11 HIV-1 positive women and their newborns detected by RT. In pregnant women, HIV prevalence during this period was 1.5% (28/1796). Prevalence of infection among women with adequate prenatal care was 0.9% (12/1237) while among those with IPC care was 2.8% (16/559) (OR=3.01, 95% CI 1.34–6.81 P<0.002). After one year of follow up, no children exposed to HIV became infected. Conclusions: Prevalence of HIV infection was significantly higher among women with IPC. The use of RT allowed the diagnosis of 39% of total HIV pregnant women assisted in this period and it was a useful tool to prevent MTCT.