Mom's HIV Drugs May Pass to Baby in Womb, Breast-Feeding
SATURDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- Babies born to HIV-
positive women taking antiretroviral drugs to fight the disease
may become exposed to the drugs in the womb and during breast-
feeding, new research shows. Hair and blood samples taken from
the 3-month-old infants of women with HIV found evidence that
two medications pass from mother to baby in the womb, while a
third medication is passed both in utero and by breast milk. The
study by researchers from the University of California, San
Francisco and Makerere University in Uganda included more than
100 HIV-positive mothers who were breast-feeding their infants
and taking either lopinavir and ritonavir, or efavirenz. HIV-
positive women take antiretroviral drugs to help prevent them
from spreading HIV to their fetus, but HIV-positive women are
told not to breast-feed because HIV can be transmitted through
breast milk, experts say. But in some developing nations,
formula-feeding isn't an option. The res