Article Sidebar
Published:
Apr 20, 2016Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
PMTCT from research to reality - results from a routine service
Abstract
Design. Descriptive study over a 13-month period utilising retrospective data obtained from hospital records complemented by prospective data on a sample of patients enrolled in a study to determine an affordable HIV diagnostic protocol for infants.
Setting. Routine PMTCT service at Coronation Women and Children's Hospital (CWCH) situated in Johannesburg and affiliated to the University of the Witwatersrand.
Subjects. Pregnant women known to be HIV infected who delivered at CWCH from 1 October 2001 to 31 October 2002.
Outcome measures. The HIV transmission rate to infants, which reflects nevirapine (NVP) delivery and infant feeding practices, and follow-up rates of perinatally exposed children.
Results. Of the 8 221 deliveries, 1 234 (15%) occurred in women known to be HIV infected, HIV transmission rates of 8.7% at 6 weeks and 8.9% at 3 months of age in the study population verifies the high rate of NVP administration and the ability of women to formula-feed their babies and abstain from breast-feeding. More than one-third of infants never return for follow-up and more than 70% are lost to follow-up by 4 months of age.
Conclusions. The low HIV transmission rate confirms the efficacy of this routine service PMTCT programme. HIV infected children are not being identified for medical management as part of PMTCT follow-up. It is imperative
that record keeping is improved to facilitate ongoing monitoring.
