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Agnes Binagwaho, Niloo Ratnayake , Joia Mukherjee, Jules Mugabo, Etienne Karita, Elisabetta Pegurri. When one can infect two: a reflection on the impact of HIV discordance on child HIV infection. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2010;5:10 Key words: Sero-discordant couples, HIV discordance, PMTCT, children, HIV, Rwanda Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/5/10/full Received: 20/04/2010 - Accepted: 07/05/2010 - Published: 10/05/2010 © Agnes Binagwaho et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
When one can infect two: a reflection on the impact of HIV discordance on child HIV infection
Agnes Binagwaho1,&, Niloo Ratnayake2, Joia Mukherjee3, Jules Mugabo4, Etienne Karita5, Elisabetta Pegurri6
1Rwanda Ministry of Health, Kigali, Rwanda , 2 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America, 3Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States of America, 4Centre of Treatment and Research on AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Others Epidemics, Kigali, Rwanda, 5Projet San Francisco, Kigali, Rwanda, 6 UNAIDS, Kigali, Rwanda
&Corresponding author
Rwanda Ministry of Health, Kigali, Rwanda
Abstract
This is an opinion piece based on data and experience from Rwanda. The authors believe this opinion piece may help improve current programs on prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child in Africa taking into account the prevalence of HIV sero-discordance in couples. The authors recommend that if we want to ensure newborns stay HIV negative, PMTCT protocols should offer a series of HIV tests linked with antenatal visits and the lactation period as well as HIV testing of current sexual partners. Moreover, if the male partner is found to be positive and the woman is negative, programs should provide intensive counseling on the use of condoms. The lives of three individuals have the potential to be changed from HIV testing and counseling. Morally, this cannot be ignored.
