J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1997 May 1;15(1):76-82.
We evaluated maternal sexual behavior and injection drug use practices
as possible risk factors for vertical transmission of human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Data were analyzed from the
Mothers and Infants Cohort Study, a prospective study in Brooklyn and
the Bronx, New York. A total of 207 mother-infant sets were enrolled
between 1986 and 1991 and followed for up to 4 years after the
enrollment visit during pregnancy. HIV-1 transmission occurred in 49 of
201 mother-infant sets, yielding an overall transmission rate of 24.4%
(95% confidence interval CI) = 18.7% to 31.0%). Increased frequency of
vaginal intercourse after the first trimester of pregnancy was
positively associated with vertical transmission of HIV-1 (trend p =
0.03). A lifetime history of injection drug use was not associated with
vertical transmission. However, a history of combined cocaine and heroin
injection after the first trimester of pregnancy was associated with
vertical HIV-1 transmission, particularly among women with CD4+
lymphocyte levels of 20% or higher (risk ratio = 4.0; 95% CI = 2.0 to
8.1). Cocaine and heroin injection drug use after the first trimester
accounted for most of the relation between preterm birth and vertical
HIV-1 transmission in this cohort. Maternal coinfection with hepatitis C
virus or human T-cell lymphotropic virus types I and II could not
explain these observations, because coinfection with these viruses had
no detectable effect on HIV-1 transmission. These results suggest that
maternal sexual behavior and injection drug use practices during the
second and third trimester of pregnancy may modify the risk of vertical
HIV-1 transmission.
*Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/TRANSMISSION *Disease Transmission,
Vertical *HIV-1 *Sex Behavior *Substance Abuse,
Intravenous/COMPLICATIONS