Re: NACO guidelines on MTCT

[Guest guest]

Dear Mr. Parthesarthy,

I have not read the NACO guidelines but the following

information should be a help in understanding the

issue;

1. In the US, the instructions are clear that a HIV

positive mother should not feed the baby.

2. The WHO insists that in the countries/communities

where poverty and malnutrition among children and

mothers exists, the babies should be breastfed despite

mother being positive. The rational behind this

recommendation are;

MTCT takes place, 20% in the womb, 50% during delivary

and only 30% after birth(through breast milk). Hence

the risk of postnatal transmission is only 30%.

Studies also suggest that the transmission of the

virus during initial 4 months of exclusive breast

feeding are even fewer.

Another suggestion in this regard is that the mother

can express her milk, boil it and feed the baby using

a bowl (boiling certainly kills the virus though it

also affects certain vitamins).

3. Considering the aforementioned, in a setup where

the vicious circle of malnutition-infection among

babies is high, the baby is more vulnerable to many

other infections if she is deprived of mother's milk,

hence exclusive BF for atleast 3 months is recommended

even if the mother is positive in developing

countries.

Trust this helps.

Manish Mathur

E-mail: <mmathur_in@...>