TITLE:
Qualitative Detection of Proviral-DNA of HIV-1 in Infants to Determine the Efficacy of Antiretroviral Therapy in the Prevention of Vertical Transmission of HIV-1 in The Gambia
AUTHORS:
Lamin B. Cham, Pape Mbacké Sembene, Pa Ousman Bah, Musa Ceesay, Ebrima Joof, Abou Kebbeh, Massamba Gueye, Ebrima Njie, Bakary Sanneh
KEYWORDS:
ARV Drugs, ART, Prophylaxis, Maternal to Child (Vertical) Transmission, PCR, HIV-Exposed Infants, The Gambia
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.6 No.4,
December
1,
2016
ABSTRACT: The priority of The Gambia government is to eliminate maternal to child transmission of HIV and in line with this priority, the country implemented an antiretroviral therapy (ART) program. With this, all HIV infected pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and infants have access to ARV drugs. This study aims to determine the prevalence of vertical transmission of HIV among women receiving the ARV drugs. Dried blood spot samples were collected from 109 HIV-exposed infants enrolled in 13 PMTCT sites across the country. A qualitative detection of proviral-DNA of HIV-1 was performed using the RealTime Abbott PCR assay. Data from 105 mothers were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and association of risk factors to PCR results were analyzed using (Crosstabs) Pearson Chi-Square. The p-value of significant was set at p