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80 percent of HIV-infected Poles do not know anything about it. And so every year 1 newly detected HIV infections are registered in our country. Many women find out that they have HIV when they are pregnant. It is important to do the test twice then, because it gives a chance for a cesarean that will save the child from infection. December 526 is World AIDS Day.
- 80 percent of those infected don’t know anything about it. Increasingly, it is very young people and pregnant women. 20-30 percent infected people do not experience any symptoms of infection
- The period immediately after the infection is characterized by the so-called high viral load, i.e. the presence of multiplying viruses. Then the “infection” wears off. However, this does not mean that the virus is not growing, although viral load levels are declining. It grows again when the immune system is destroyed by HIV and AIDS begins
- If an HIV-infected woman is pregnant, the virus can spread to the baby. If she informs the pregnant doctor about the infection, she has a chance for therapy and cesarean surgery, which will save the child from infection.
How can HIV spread from mother to child?
There are three ways of HIV infection:
- Mother – fetus intrauterine – this applies to a few percent of vertical infections. The virus is transmitted through the placenta, but most often after the 20th week of pregnancy;
- In the perinatal period – this is when the virus is most often transmitted from mother to child (most often during or just after delivery);
- During breastfeeding – the risk is on average 1%. for each month of feeding.
What raises the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child?
The development of the virus in the human body is a multi-stage process with specific dynamics, often takes place over the years and leads to irreversible destruction of the immune system.
After entering the human body, the virus multiplies rapidly. During this period, an acute retroviral disease occurs. Many people, a few to several dozen days after the virus enters the body, have symptoms resembling a flu-related infection or flu. A relatively characteristic feature of this period is the simultaneous fever and rash. In addition, an infected person may experience headaches, joint pain, throat pain.
However, about 20-30 percent. infected people experience little or no such symptoms!
The period immediately after the infection is characterized by the so-called high viral load, i.e. the presence of multiplying viruses. Then the “infection” wears off. However, this does not mean that the virus is not growing, although viral load levels are declining. It grows again when the immune system is destroyed by HIV and AIDS begins.
- What is AIDS like?
Other factors that increase the risk of mother-to-child infection from the virus include: bleeding, systemic diseases, low levels of CD4 T cells.
— The earliest diagnosis of the infection is beneficial both for the patient and epidemiologically – taking into account the particularly high dynamics of HIV replication during this period – for limiting the degree of potential exposure (sexual partner). In addition, early diagnosis of the infection, even before or at the time of seroconversion (i.e. the production of specific antibodies in the blood serum – editor’s note) makes it possible to implement antiretroviral therapy, which has an impact on its effectiveness, as it hinders the stabilization of viral reservoirs (central nervous system , genitourinary system, lymphoid tissue), which, if such an opportunity is overlooked, may change the effectiveness of further treatment – emphasize the authors of the article on early HIV detection by family doctors. Although the article was published in 2003, nothing has changed in this respect.
When to do an HIV test in pregnancy?
– I order all pregnant patients to have an HIV test. It is best to do this test twice: before the 10th and also between the 33rd and 37th week of pregnancy. This is a simple test that can prevent your baby from becoming infected. Taking into account the health of the family, the gynecologist should emphasize the necessity of HIV testing by the future mother and father of the child at the stage of pregnancy planning – emphasizes the rector of the Medical University of Warsaw, professor of gynecology and obstetrics Mirosław Wielgoś.
I am pregnant and I have HIV. What now?
An HIV-infected woman can give birth to a healthy child, most often by caesarean section, although natural delivery is also possible. However, you need to know about the infection earlier than before the birth itself, because prophylaxis begins as early as possible.
Treatment simply needs to be started (or continued if the woman knew she was infected before pregnancy).
Antiretroviral therapy, available in Poland, made HIV infection a chronic disease, such as diabetes (i.e. you can live a normal life, start a family, give birth to children, work, but you need to take medication and check yourself periodically).
1. The first and most important way to prevent maternal infections is effective antiretroviral therapy in pregnant women. Thus, the expectant mother must take medication.
2. Prophylaxis is also implemented in the newborn. First, after birth, he is thoroughly rinsed of fluid from his fluid, aspirated from his upper respiratory tract when “swallowed” during labor, and antiretroviral therapy is given within four hours after birth.
3. An HIV-infected woman cannot breastfeed her baby.
The National AIDS Center informs that in most European highly developed countries and in the USA, the risk of maternal infection is currently around 1%, but in Poland – around 20%. This high percentage is mainly related to the insufficient performance of tests for HIV infection by pregnant women.
– It is estimated that only 25-30 percent. women were tested for HIV during pregnancy and received full prophylaxis. The pilot survey conducted in the center I manage shows that 33 percent. of women had a pregnancy test performed twice, in line with the standards. It still happens that HIV infection is detected only in the few or teenagers. Older children still come to us with AIDS – i.e. in a very advanced stage of the disease – explains the head of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Medical University of Warsaw, Prof. Magdalena Marczyńska.
How many people are infected with HIV in Poland?
From the implementation of the research in 1985 to December 31, 2017, HIV infection was found in 22 inhabitants of Poland. Among the total number of registered infected, there were at least 657 infected due to drug use, 6 infected through heterosexual contact, and 347 through sexual contact between men. Overall, 1 cases of AIDS were reported, and 758 patients died. It is estimated that there are many more infected with HIV, but they are not aware of it.
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