Study: Rapid HIV Test On Pregnant Moms Can Save Newborns From Infection

Montreal, QC (AHN) - Researchers at McGill University have found an HIV test using saliva to be effective in preventing pregnant Indian mothers from passing the virus to their newborns.

The OraQuick test, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004, lets doctors know within 20 minutes if a laboring pregnant mom is HIV-infected. The early detection of infection allows doctors to immediately administer anti-retroviral drugs to HIV-exposed infants, a method proven effective in preventing infection of babies from the virus that causes AIDS.

According to Canada.com, Nikita Pant Pai, of the division of infectious diseases at the McGill University Health Centre, said the saliva test is applicable to pregnant Indian rural women, who avoid regular HIV blood test because of stigma and discrimination. Thus, they do not have a history of HIV testing, which is crucial to preventing transmission, Pai said.

The researchers field tested OraQuick on 1,222 women at a labor ward of a hospital in the Indian town of Wardha for nine months. They found 82 percent of the women had never taken an HIV test. Eleven were found positive from the virus but the babies of 10 of the infected mothers survived and turned negative from the virus after quickly getting anti-retroviral drug cocktails.