According to WHO, there are around 35 million adults living with HIV/AIDs worldwide. Of these, around 1.5 million are pregnant women. There is a high risk of vertical transmission of HIV infection. Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection is one of the foremost challenges in public health. This study was done to assess the rate of vertical transmission of HIV infection in pregnant women presenting to a tertiary care setting. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 15 years of hospital data from 2008 to 2022 was conducted in the Mother and Child Health Care (MCH) Center, Pakistan Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad. The demographic, clinical, and delivery outcomes of the mother were retrieved from hospital records. Data was analyzed in SPSS software, version 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results: A total of 197 pregnant women with HIV/AIDS presented in 15 years. The mean age was 29.5 ± 6.4 years, and the majority was between 21 and 30 years 114 (57.6%). When HIV RNA load was assessed in study women, it was witnessed that 67 (34.1%) had undetectable load while 130 (65.8%) had detectable viral load. A significant linear trend of increase in rates of women with HIV in pregnancy was noted from 2008 (3.0%) to 2022 (15.7%). Vertical transmission of HIV was found in two (1.0%) of study cases. Conclusion: The linear trend of increase in HIV in pregnancy was noted. The rate of vertical transmission was found to be 1%. It proves the role of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) therapy in reducing the risk of HIV transmission from mothers to babies.
Keywords: baby; hiv/aids; pregnancy; public health; vertical transmission.
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