Placental malaria and mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus-1 in rural Rwanda

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 Aug;85(2):202-6. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2011.10-0589.

Abstract

We conducted a nested case-control study of placental malaria (PM) and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) within a prospective cohort of 627 mother-infant pairs followed from October 1989 until April 1994 in rural Rwanda. Sixty stored placentas were examined for PM and other placental pathology, comparing 20 HIV-infected mother-infant (perinatal transmitter) pairs, 20 HIV-uninfected pairs, and 20 HIV-infected mothers who did not transmit to their infant perinatally. Of 60 placentas examined, 45% showed evidence of PM. Placental malaria was associated with increased risk of MTCT of HIV-1 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-29.1), especially among primigravidae (aOR = 12.0; 95% CI = 1.0-150; P < 0.05). Before antiretroviral therapy or prophylaxis, PM was associated with early infant HIV infection among rural Rwandan women living in a hyper-endemic malaria region. Primigravidae, among whom malaria tends to be most severe, may be at higher risk.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • HIV Infections / transmission*
  • HIV-1 / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / statistics & numerical data*
  • Placenta / parasitology*
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / epidemiology*
  • Rwanda / epidemiology
  • Young Adult