Authors

Osvaldo Lorenzo, Dirección General de Control de las Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual y SIDA (DIGECITSS), Ministerio de Salud Pública (MSP), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Consuelo M. Beck-Sagué, Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work; Clinton Foundation Health Access Initiative, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Claudia Bautista-Soriano, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Consejo Presidencial del SIDA (COPRESIDA), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Mina Halpern, Clínica de Familia La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic
José Roman-Poueriet, Clínica de Familia La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic
Nora Henderson, Clinton Foundation Health Access Initiative, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; New York University, School of Medicine, Department of Medicine
Eddy Perez-Then, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Materno Infantil Dr. Hugo Mendoza (CENISMI), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Rosa Abreu-Perez, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones en Salud Materno Infantil Dr. Hugo Mendoza (CENISMI), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Solange Soto, Hospital Infantil Robert Reid Cabral, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Luis Martínez, Hospital Materno Infantil San Lorenzo de los Mina, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Sarah Rives-Gray, Hospital Materno Infantil San Lorenzo de los Mina, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Bienvenido Veras, Hospital Regional Universitario José María Cabral y Báez, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Maureen Connolly, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Residency Program in Pediatrics
Greer Brittany Callender, Clínica de Familia La Romana, La Romana, Dominican Republic
Stephen W. Nicholas, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health; Columbia University International Family AIDS Program, La Romana, Dominican Republic

Date of this Version

9-16-2012

Document Type

Article

Abstract

In 1999, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (pMTCT) using antiretrovirals was introduced in the Dominican Republic (DR). Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was introduced for immunosuppressed persons in 2004 and for pMTCT in 2008. To assess progress towards MTCT elimination, data from requisitions for HIV nucleic acid amplification tests for diagnosis of HIV infection in perinatally exposed infants born in the DR from 1999 to 2011 were analyzed. The MTCT rate was 142/1,274 (11.1%) in 1999–2008 and 12/302 (4.0%) in 2009–2011 (), with a rate of 154/1,576 (9.8%) for both periods combined. This decline was associated with significant increases in the proportions of women who received prenatal HAART (from 12.3% to 67.9%) and infants who received exclusive formula feeding (from 76.3% to 86.1%) and declines in proportions of women who received no prenatal antiretrovirals (from 31.9% to 12.2%) or received only single-dose nevirapine (from 39.5% to 19.5%). In 2007, over 95% of DR pregnant women received prenatal care, HIV testing, and professionally attended delivery. However, only 58% of women in underserved sugarcane plantation communities (2007) and 76% in HIV sentinel surveillance hospitals (2003–2005) received their HIV test results. HIV-MTCT elimination is feasible but persistent lack of access to critical pMTCT measures must be addressed.

Comments

This article was originally published in Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology Volume 2012 (2012.

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