Effect of cytomegalovirus infection on breastfeeding transmission of HIV and on the health of infants born to HIV-infected mothers

Tiffany S. Chang, Jeffrey Wiener, Sheila C. Dollard, Minal M. Amin, Sascha Ellington, Charles Chasela, Dumbani Kayira, Gerald Tegha, Deborah Kamwendo, Denise J. Jamieson, Charlie Van Der Horst, Athena P. Kourtis*, Linda Adair, Yusuf Ahmed, Mounir Ait-Khaled, Sandra Albrecht, Shrikant Bangdiwala, Ronald Bayer, Margaret Bentley, Brian BramsonEmily Bobrow, Nicola Boyle, Sal Butera, Charity Chavula, Joseph Chimerang'ambe, Maggie Chigwenembe, Maria Chikasema, Norah Chikhungu, David Chilongozi, Grace Chiudzu, Lenesi Chome, Anne Cole, Amanda Corbett, Amy Corneli, Anna Dow, Ann Duerr, Henry Eliya, Joseph Eron, Sherry Farr, Yvonne Owens Ferguson, Susan Fiscus, Valerie Flax, Ali Fokar, Shannon Galvin, Laura Guay, Chad Heilig, Irving Hoffman, Elizabeth Hooten, Mina Hosseinipour, Michael Hudgens, Stacy Hurst, Lisa Hyde, George Joaki, David Jones, Elizabeth Jordan-Bell, Zebrone Kacheche, Esmie Kamanga, Gift Kamanga, Coxcilly Kampani, Portia Kamthunzi, Cecilia Kanyama, Angela Kashuba, Damson Kathyola, Peter Kazembe, Caroline C. King, Rodney Knight, Robert Krysiak, Jacob Kumwenda, Hana Lee, Edde Loeliger, Dustin Long, Misheck Luhanga, Victor Madhlopa, Maganizo Majawa, Alice Maida, Cheryl Marcus, Francis Martinson, Navdeep Thoofer, Chrissie Matiki, Douglas Mayers, Isabel Mayuni, Marita McDonough, Joyce Meme, Ceppie Merry, Khama Mita, Chimwemwe Mkomawanthu, Gertrude Mndala, Ibrahim Mndala, Agnes Moses, Albans Msika, Wezi Msungama, Beatrice Mtimuni, Jane Muita, Noel Mumba, Bonface Musis, Charles Mwansambo, Gerald Mwapasa, Jacqueline Nkhoma, Megan Parker, Richard Pendame, Ellen Piwoz, Byron Raines, Zane Ramdas, John Rublein, Mairin Ryan, Ian Sanne, Christopher Sellers, Diane Shugars, Dorothy Sichali, Wendy Snowden, Alice Soko, Allison Spensley, Jean Marc Steens, Martin Tembo, Roshan Thomas, Hsiao Chuan Tien, Beth Tohill, Charles Van Der Horst, Esther Waalberg, Elizabeth Widen, Cathy Wilfert, Patricia Wiyo, Innocent Zgambo, Chifundo Zimba

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can be acquired in utero or postnatally through horizontal transmission and breastfeeding. The effect of postnatal CMV infection on postnatal HIV transmission is unknown. Methods: The Breastfeeding, Antiretrovirals and Nutrition study, conducted in Malawi, randomized 2369 mothers and their infants to three antiretroviral prophylaxis arms - mother (triple regimen), infant (nevirapine), or neither - for 28 weeks of breastfeeding, followed by weaning. Stored plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cell specimens were available for 492 infants at 24 weeks and were tested with CMV PCR. Available samples from infants who were CMV PCR-positive at 24 weeks were also tested at birth (N = 242), and from infants PCR-negative at 24 weeks were tested at 48 weeks (N = 96). Cox proportional-hazards models were used to determine if CMV infection was associated with infant morbidity, mortality, or postnatal HIV acquisition. Results: At 24 weeks of age, CMV DNA was detected in 345/492 infants (70.1%); the estimated congenital CMV infection rate was 2.3%, and the estimated rate of CMV infection at 48 weeks was 78.5%. CMV infection at 24 weeks was associated with subsequent HIV acquisition through breastfeeding or infant death between 24 and 48 weeks of age (hazard ratio 4.27, P = 0.05). Conclusion: Most breastfed infants of HIV-infected mothers in this resource-limited setting are infected with CMV by 24 weeks of age. Early CMV infection may be a risk factor for subsequent infant HIV infection through breastfeeding, pointing to the need for comprehensive approaches in order to achieve elimination of breastfeeding transmission of HIV.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)831-836
Number of pages6
JournalAIDS
Volume29
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 24 2015

Keywords

  • HIV
  • breastfeeding
  • cytomegalovirus
  • infant
  • mother-to-child transmission

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Immunology and Allergy
  • Immunology

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