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Rates of perinatal HIV infection remain higher among blacks, Hispanics

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Differences in rates of perinatal HIV infection between races/ethnicities in the United States have persisted over the past several years, with 69% of cases per year occurring in black patients, 16% in Hispanic patients and 11% in white patients, according to a recent study.

CDC researchers evaluated the latest available HIV surveillance data from 2004 to 2007 to examine the most current racial/ethnic trends in diagnosis of perinatal HIV infection. They gathered data from 34 states via confidential, name-based HIV surveillance systems, defining perinatal HIV infection as children born to women with HIV infection who were aged younger than 13 years and met CDC’s 2008 revised surveillance case definition for HIV infection in children.

Researchers found that the average overall annual rate of diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection from 2004 to 2007 was 2.7 per 100,000 infants aged 1 year or younger. This number was higher among black infants (12.3 per 100,000) and Hispanic infants (2.1 per 100,000) when compared with white infants (0.5 per 100,000).

The disparity between perinatal HIV infection rates may be due to social factors associated with race/ethnicity, the researchers said, including tight social networks, assortative mixing and poverty. The researchers also cited a study from 1995 to 1997 that indicated that black and Hispanic women were less likely than white women to seek an adequate amount of prenatal care.

However, the annual rate for diagnoses of perinatal HIV infection in black children decreased from 14.8 to 10.2 per 100,000 (P=.003) and in Hispanic children from 2.9 to 1.7 per 100,000 (P=.04) over the course of the study, according to the researchers, whereas rates for white children remained about the same.

Researchers also noted that the number of overall perinatal HIV infection had declined approximately 90% since 1991. They attributed this decrease to routine HIV screening in pregnant women and more effective interventions to prevent HIV transmission.

To continue decreasing overall HIV transmission from mother to child, an early diagnosis of HIV infection, proper prenatal care and use of antiretroviral medication throughout pregnancy and delivery are crucial, the researchers concluded.

Lampe MA. MMWR. 2010;49:97-101.