Delay AIDS treatment for mothers to prevent drug resistance

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Delaying treatment of HIV-infected women with antiretroviral drugs containing nevirapine by at least six months after labor reduces their risk of developing a resistance to the medicines, said a study published Wednesday.

"The findings could potentially change treatment approaches for millions of mothers infected with the AIDS virus," said researchers in an article published in the January 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

One dose of nevirapine given alone or in combination with antiretroviral medications such as zidovudine during labor significantly reduces the likelihood that a pregnant woman will pass HIV to her child.

In developing countries, expensive antiretroviral drug cocktails are in short supply and a single dose of nevirapine is often all that is available to HIV-infected pregnant women.

But this has created a "terrible dilemma" for doctors and patients because 20-69 percent of women who take a single dose of nevirapine during labor subsequently develop resistance to the relatively inexpensive drug, research showed.

Without treatment, a mother is more likely to pass HIV to her child.

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AFP 102006 GMT 01 07