HIV-1-mother-to-child transmission and associated characteristics in a public maternity unit in Presidente Prudente, Brazil

in children, vertical transmission is the main form of hiv infection. our aim was to determine the prevalence of hiv-1 vertical transmission in mother-infant pairs in a public maternity ward in presidente prudente, sp. additionally; we sought to identify characteristics associated with this form of transmission. the files of 86 hiv-1-infected mothers and their newborns referred to a public hospital from march 2002 to march 2007 were analyzed. the hiv-1-rna viral load of the newborns was determined by bdna. the hiv-1 vertical-transmission rate was 4.6%. children that were born in the pre-term period and breastfed were at a higher risk of hiv-1 infection (p = 0.005 and p = 0.017 respectively) than children born at term and not breastfed. prophylactic therapy with zidovudine after birth for newborns was associated with a lower risk of infection (p = 0.003). the number of newborns weighing < 2,500 g was significantly higher for infected children (p = 0.008) than for non-infected newborns. about 22.9% of mothers did not know the hiv-1 status of their newborns eight months after delivery. the study suggests that it is necessary to increase the identification of hiv-1 infection in pregnant women and their newborns as well as to offer and explain the benefits of arv prophylaxis.