Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases Print version ISSN
1413-8670 EL BEITUNE, Patrícia et al. Antiretroviral therapy
during pregnancy and early neonatal life: consequences for HIV-
exposed, uninfected children. Braz J Infect Dis [online]. 2004,
vol.8, n.2, pp. 140-150. ISSN 1413-8670.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1413-86702004000200004. Women have
emerged as the fastest growing human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) infected population worldwide, mainly because of the
increasing occurrence of heterosexual transmission. Most
infected women are of reproductive age and one of the greatest
concerns for both women and their physicians is that more than
1,600 infants become infected with HIV each day. Almost all
infections are a result of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
With the advent of combination antiretroviral therapies,
transmission rates lower than 2% have been achieved in clinical
studies. Antiretroviral compounds differ from most other new
pharmaceutical agents in that they have become widely prescribed