NZPHR Vol 9 No 3 Jul-Sep 2002
Friday 10th September 2010
 |
Contents and Lead Article
Contents- Estimates of HIV prevalence among pregnant women in New Zealand
- Meningococcal disease in 2001 reaches highest incidence to date
- New Zealand Paediatric Surveillance Unit Update
- Three HUS cases in Rotorua
- Surveillance and control notes
Estimates of HIV prevalence among pregnant women in New Zealand
The development of interventions that markedly reduce the chance of perinatal transmission of HIV from an infected pregnant women to her baby have spurred interest in improving detection of HIV among such women. On the basis of reports of known births to HIV infected women during 1998-2001, and the number of infected children born in New Zealand who have developed AIDS, an overall prevalence of HIV among women giving birth was estimated. This estimate is 1.5 to 4.0 per 10 000, with 45 to 80% not diagnosed before giving birth. Based on these figures, if all these infections were detected, an additional four to 18 pregnant women would be diagnosed with HIV annually and could be offered effective antenatal care. If interventions to prevent perinatal transmission were taken up by all of these women, it is estimated that on average five perinatal infections could be prevented every three years. We recommend that rapid consideration be given to the benefits, risks, and costs of moving to a policy where all pregnant women are offered and recommended to have a voluntary HIV test. In the meantime maternity carers should discuss HIV with all pregnant women. An initial prevalence study of HIV using neonatal blood spots should be undertaken to assess the true prevalence among women giving birth. In the future regular public health monitoring using neonatal blood spots, and ongoing collection on the number of women given birth known to be infected, will be required to assess the effectiveness of this policy.
Note: Click on the document links below to open. These documents are in PDF format. You will need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.
|
|
Report: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DOWNLOADS |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Make sure you are alerted by email when selected new reports become available. Alerts are not available for the Weekly Influenza Update report, please check the website every Thursday for an update. More |
|
 |
|
Ph: +64 4 914 0700 |
|