People with HIV can breastfeed their babies as long as they are taking medications that effectively suppress the virus that causes Aids, a top United States paediatricians group said on Monday in a sharp policy change. The new report from the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) reverses recommendations it had in place since the start of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s. It recognised that routinely prescribed drugs could reduce the risk of transmitting HIV via breast milk to less than 1 per cent, said Dr Lisa Abuogi, a paediatric HIV expert at the University of Colorado and lead author of the report.
“The medications are so good now and the benefits for mum and baby are so important that we are at a point where it is important to engage in shared decision-making,” Abuogi said. The drugs, known as antiretroviral therapy, don’t eliminate all risk of transmitting HIV through breast milk. Avoiding breastfeeding was the only certain way to prevent spreading the virus, Abuogi said.
Parents must also breastfeed exclusively for the babies’ first six months because research shows switching between breast milk and formula can disrupt an infant’s gut in ways that increase the risk of HIV infection. About 5000 people who have HIV give birth in the US each year. Nearly all take drugs to suppress the virus to low levels, Abuogi said, though viral levels can rebound if they don’t stay on them.
Before the medications became widely available starting a decade ago, about 30 per cent.
