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Placental malaria fuels mother-to-child HIV - study

    JOHANNESBURG

    Researchers have revealed that transmission of HIV from mother to child is "significantly" increased as a result of placental malaria in expectant mothers.

    A study of 746 HIV-positive women in Uganda by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found a 40 percent HIV transmission rate among women with placental malaria, compared to 15.4 percent for those without malaria.

    The Nigerian newspaper, This Day, quoted Dr Heena Brahmbhatt, the main author of the study, as saying, "These findings could have potential public health relevance because interventions to prevent placental malaria during pregnancy might reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child, and this could augment current approaches using antiretroviral drugs."

    HIV and malaria are among the most prevalent infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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