MMWR. Recommendations and reports : Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Recommendations and reports
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Practice Guideline Guideline
U.S. Public Health Service Task Force recommendations for use of antiretroviral drugs in pregnant HIV-1-infected women for maternal health and interventions to reduce perinatal HIV-1 transmission in the United States.
These recommendations update the February 4,2002, guidelines developed by the Public Health Service for the use of zidovudine (ZDV) to reduce the risk for perinatal human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission. This report provides healthcare providers with information for discussion with HIV-1-infected pregnant women to enable such women to make an informed decision regarding the use of antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy and use of elective cesarean delivery to reduce perinatal HIV-1 transmission. Various circumstances that commonly occur in clinical practice are presented, and the factors influencing treatment considerations are highlighted in this report. ⋯ Therefore, offering antiretroviral therapy to HIV-1-infected women during pregnancy, whether primarily for HIV-1 infection, for reduction of perinatal transmission, or for both purposes, should be accompanied by a discussion of the known and unknown short- and long-term benefits and risks of such therapy to infected women and their infants. Standard antiretroviral therapy should be discussed with and offered to HIV-1-infected pregnant women. Additionally, to prevent perinatal transmission, ZDV chemoprophylaxis should be incorporated into the antiretroviral regimen.