EFFECT OF MATERNAL HIV STATUS AND ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY ON THE HAEMATOLOGICAL PROFILE OF NEWBORNS

Abstract

HIV/AIDS epidemics constitute serious health challenge especially among young women within reproductive age group who continuously become pregnant resulting in several thousand pregnancies among HIV infected women in Nigeria. The fortunate few of these HIV pregnant women are taking ART either for their own health or as a means to prevent newborn infection and this entails fetal exposure to drugs that could affect its haematological parameters.
This was a comparative cross sectional study to determine the effect of maternal HIV status and antiretroviral therapy on the haematological profile of newborns, conducted among 70 HIV positive pregnant women on any ART and their newborn infants and 70 controls HIV negative pregnant women and their newborn infants at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano.
Haematological parameters of the newborns and mothers were compared and newborns haematological parameters, maternal CD4 count, type and duration of antiretroviral therapy were tested for statistical associations.
The mean haematocrit, platelet count and reticulocyte count of the HIV exposed newborns are significantly lower than that of their HIV unexposed counterparts. Maternal CD4+ T-cell <350/µl and second line antiretroviral therapy were significantly associated with lower haematological parameters among HIV exposed newborns. There was no significant association between duration of antiretroviral therapy during pregnancy and haematological parameters of exposed newborns.
Careful monitoring of all HIV exposed newborns and full blood count testing for the HIV exposed newborns born to mothers with low CD4 count and those on second line antiretroviral therapy are recommended.

EFFECT OF MATERNAL HIV STATUS AND ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY ON THE HAEMATOLOGICAL PROFILE OF NEWBORNS