Cesarean + AZT = Almost no HIV transmission

Mother-to-child transfer of HIV can be virtually eliminated by having the mother take AZT and give birth by planned cesarean section.

References: 

1998. AZT and C-section combo appears to nearly eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission. Journal of the American Medical Association 280(July 1).

Kind, C., et al. 1998. Prevention of vertical HIV transmission: Additive protective effect of elective Cesarean section and zidovudine prophylaxis. AIDS 12(Jan. 22):205.

Mandelbrot, L., et al. 1998. Perinatal HIV-1 transmission. Journal of the American Medical Association 280(July 1):55.

Further Readings: 

Cooper, E.R., et al. 1996. After AIDS clinical trial 076: The changing pattern of zidovudine use during pregnancy and the subsequent reduction in vertical transmission of human immunodeficiency virus in a cohort of infected women and their infants. Journal of Infectious Diseases 174:1207.

Kind, C., et al. 1992. Epidemiology of vertically transmitted HIV-1 infection in Switzerland: results of a nation-wide prospective study. European Journal of Pediatrics 151:442.

Kuhn, L., et al. 1996. Cesarean deliveries and maternal-infant HIV transmission: results from a prospective study in South Africa. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology 11:478.

Minkoff, H., and M.J. O’Sullivan. 1998. The case for rapid HIV testing during labor. Journal of the American Medical Association 279(June 3):1743.

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