[Mother to child transmission of infantile HIV/AIDS in Cuba]

The number of children born to HIV/AIDS-seropositive mothers in Cuba is small due to the implementation of the program for the prevention of maternal-infant transmission of HIV/AIDS in Cuba. During the studied period (January 1st, 1985, to December 31st, 1999) 64 children were born, 9 were infected with HIV, 7 of them have developed AIDS (3 have died due to this cause and 4 are under treatment with antiviral agents and proteases inhibitors) and 2 are asymptomatic HIV seropositive. Of the 48 children that concluded the study, 39 (81.25%) are sound and 9 (18.75%) are HIV/AIDS-seropositive children, which is a low figure of maternal-infant transmission compared with that of the developed countries. Since 1997, when AZT began to be administered to mothers and children, none of the 8 children that finished the study have been infected. Up to now, 10 HIV/AIDS-seropositive children, 9 by perinatal route and 1 by blood transfusion, already dead, have been reported in the country.

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