Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Ex Vivo Infection of Human Lymphoid Tissue and Female Genital Mucosa with Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 and Histoculture
Published on: October 12, 2018
HIV in pregnancy
Jack Moodley1, Jens L Wennberg
1aMRC/UN Pregnancy Hypertension Research Unit and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. gynae@ukzn.ac.za
Purpose Of Review:
This review discusses recent articles on various aspects of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy and delivery.
Recent Findings:
Rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing of women in labour whose status is not known allows the prompt treatment of mother and baby to reduce transmission risk. The feared clinical resistance in the mother after treatment with a single dose of nevirapine has been confirmed. Strategies are required to minimize this resistance and allow the use of nevirapine for treatment of the mother. There are new findings of mitochondrial toxicity in babies who have been exposed to anti-retroviral medicines during pregnancy or delivery, but the clinical implications are not clear. Long-term follow-up of exposed children is required. Resource-poor countries are starting to use multiple drugs to further reduce transmission to the infant. These efforts are reducing the rates of transmission to the level found in affluent countries.
Summary:
Improvements in treatment continue to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in resource-poor countries, but subsequent maternal resistance continues to be a problem since treatment for the mother's health is now possible. The long-term effects on the infant are still not understood.
Related Concept Videos
Sexually Transmitted Infections
Retrovirus Life Cycles
Cytomegalovirus Disease
Inhibitors of Virion Maturation and Assembly
Development of Immunocompetence
The initial cells that migrate from the fetal thymus settle within the skin and epithelial tissues lining the mouth, digestive tract, and in females, the uterus and vagina. These cells, including skin-based dendritic cells, serve as antigen-presenting cells, playing a key role in T cell activation.
Subsequent T...
Teratogenicity

