Newborn screening for human immunodeficiency virus infection in the Bronx, NY, and evolving public health policy

New advances in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection continue to propel changes in public understanding of HIV infection and the administration of public health law. Over the past decade, New York State has moved from a policy of blind newborn screening for seroprevalence data to mandatory HIV testing as part of the statewide Newborn Screening (NBS) Program. A new statewide program of expedited HIV testing (48-hr turnaround results) of pregnant women and newborns (whose HIV status is unknown at the time of delivery) began in the summer of 1999. To better understand the impact this program might have on the patients who receive health care at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center (Lincoln Hospital), we evaluated our experience with the current NBS program prior to inauguration of the new expedited testing program. We evaluated the NBS program from February 1, 1997, to January 31, 1999, including total number of HIV-exposed/infected infants born, mother's HIV status (if known) at the time of delivery, amount of time between blood sampling and return of the test results to the Hospital, and medical follow-up of infants with positive newborn screening test results. This was a retrospective study of the NBS registry and the medical records of patients who receive primary health care from the Pediatric Immunology Service of the Department of Pediatrics at Lincoln Hospital. One hundred and four newborns were identified with positive-HIV antibody (HIV-Ab-positive), and 13 (12.5%) were confirmed to be HIV-infected by positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test of viral DNA. Sixty-five (62.5%) of the newborns with positive NBS screening test results were born to mothers who were known to be HIV-infected prior to delivery; 39 (37.5%) were unanticipated. Four (30%) of the 13 HIV-infected babies were born to mothers who were known to be HIV-infected prior to delivery, and 9 (70%) were born to mothers whose HIV status was unknown at the time of delivery. Eighty percent (80%) of HIV-Ab-positive infants continued to receive follow-up care at Lincoln Hospital. Relocation to other health-care facilities occurred as a result of parental choice or due to foster care placement. No babies were "lost" from the NBS program. The average time between sampling and receipt of results for all blood tests was 16 days (range 10 to 141). Nearly 40% of newborns who acquired HIV infection from their mothers were unanticipated because the mother's HIV status was unknown at the time of delivery. These unanticipated HIV-infected infants represent missed opportunities for prevention of maternal-to-child transmission of HIV infection and early therapeutic intervention for HIV-infected infants. The new expedited HIV-testing program for New York State will facilitate early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the HIV-exposed/infected infant for whom maternal HIV status is unknown at the time of delivery.