Voluntary HIV Counseling, Testing, and Medication for Pregnant Women to Prevent Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission
Summary
Voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) and anti-HIV drugs for pregnant women and their newborns decrease rates of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. This study will determine the acceptability of HIV counseling and rapid testing prior to delivery and will compare the usefulness of VCT prior to birth versus after birth in preventing MTCT of HIV in pregnant women in Cape Town, South Africa. This study will also determine the acceptability and effectiveness of giving anti-HIV medications to prevent MTCT of HIV.
Description
Pediatric HIV infection is a major public health problem in South Africa, and is primarily caused by MTCT of HIV. Strategies to prevent MTCT have been successfully employed when a mother's HIV status is known. However, there is concern in South Africa that it is unethical to offer HIV testing to women in the intrapartum period when they are experiencing the physical and emotional stress of labor. This study will compare the acceptability and accuracy of intrapartum and postpartum VCT in pregnant women of unknown HIV status in Cape Town, South Africa.
Pregnant women of unknown HIV status coming to a participating hospital to deliver will be asked to enter the trial. Women will be assigned to either intrapartum or postpartum VCT depending on the week during which they come to the hospital. The intervention (intrapartum or postpartum VCT) for the week will be randomly assigned and all women enrolling in the trial in a given week will receive the same intervention.
All women will receive HIV counseling prior to testing. Women in the intrapartum VCT group who are HIV infected will receive antiretrovirals (ARV) prior to delivery to prevent MTCT, and their infants will receive ARV within 3 days of birth. Infants born to HIV infected women in the postpartum VCT group will receive ARV as soon as possible after confirmation of the mother's positive test. All women will receive post-test counseling prior to discharge.
HIV VCT, medical history assessment, and physical exam will occur at study entry. A small subset of both HIV infected and uninfected mothers will be asked for their opinions regarding peripartum HIV VCT and MTCT prevention strategies during qualitative assessments.
Infants will undergo physical exam within 2 days of birth, medical history assessment within 2 days of birth and at 3 additional times between 6 and 14 weeks of age, and HIV testing within 2 days of birth and at 2 additional times between 6 and 12 weeks of age.
Study Design
Allocation: Randomized, Control: Uncontrolled, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention
Conditions
HIV Infections
Intervention
Intrapartum HIV counseling/testing, Postpartum HIV counseling/testing
Location
Hottentots Holland Hospital
Cape Town
South Africa
7505
Status
Active, not recruiting
Source
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Results (where available)
Links
- Source: http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00084045
- Information obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov on July 15, 2010
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Preconception Care
An organized and comprehensive program of health care that identifies and reduces a woman's reproductive risks before conception through risk assessment, health promotion, and interventions. Preconception care programs may be designed to include the male partner in providing counseling and educational information in preparation for fatherhood, such as genetic counseling and testing, financial and family planning, etc. This concept is different from PRENATAL CARE, which occurs during pregnancy.
Directive Counseling
Counseling during which a professional plays an active role in a client's or patient's decision making by offering advice, guidance, and/or recommendations.
Genetic Testing
Detection of or testing for certain ALLELES, mutations, genotypes, or karyotypes that are associated with genetic traits, heritable diseases, or with a predisposition to a disease, or that may lead to the disease in descendants. It includes prenatal genetic testing.
Anonymous Testing
Testing in which the source of the specimen or the person being tested is not individually identified.
Indigotindisulfonate Sodium
An indolesulfonic acid that is used as a dye in renal function testing and as a reagent for the detection of nitrates and chlorates and in the testing of milk.
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