Prolonged breastfeeding and HIV transmission.

摘要

Exclusive breastfeeding is promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the optimal feeding method for all infants from birth to 6 months of age (WHO, 2003). Until recently, there was fierce debate about infant feeding recommendations for HIV-infected women (Coo-vadia and Bland, 2007), which hinged around the multiple benefits of breastfeeding, including its nutritional superiority over formula milk (WHO, 2002,2001) and its protective benefits against illness and death (WHO, 2000; Bahl et al., 2005; Edmond et al., 2006), against the one single benefit of formula milk which is no transmission of HIV through feeding (Newell, 1998). Mother-to-child transmission of HIV can take place in utero, during labour, at delivery, or through breastfeeding (referred to as postnatal transmission). Prolonged breastfeeding (beyond 12 months) is associated with an approximate doubling of overall mother-to-child transmission risk (Newell, 1998).