Mortal legacy
NEWBORN children whose mothers suffer from a severe form of AIDS may develop the disease quicker, a recent French study reveals. The finding by Stephane Blanche and his colleagues at the Paris-based Hospital Necker Enfants Malades, could help prevent the pre-natal transmission of the infection (The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 330, No 5).
Earlier studies have shown that the disease follows two patterns in children infected with the AIDS-causing HIV through their mothers. About 1/5th of these infants, saddled with a weakened immune system, rapidly develop serious infections or brain disease within the first year of life. The majority of the infected children develop symptoms after the second year, following which the disease progresses as slowly as it does in adults.
Experts say that mothers with a severe form of AIDS are more likely to transmit a greater number of viruses, leading to an earlier and more severe manifestation of the disease in their children. Blanche and his colleagues reckon that controlling the multiplication of the virus in pregnant women may retard the progress of the disease in the infant. Eventually, this control may also help prevent transmission.