DISEASES TRANSMITTED DURING PREGNANCY AND EFFECTS ON THE CHILD
Bloodborne infections, such as HIV and hepatitis, can also cause infection of the fetus in the womb. With HIV there are no developmental problems associated with the infection itself, but there is about a 25 percent risk of a child acquiring HIV if born to a mother who is HIV positive. Mothers who are HIV positive can reduce the transmission rate of the infection to their children by taking medications used to treat HIV infection during the pregnancy. (See the section on HIV infection and AIDS in Part II for more information.) Combination therapy (with more than one HIV medication) is also being offered in many settings. Children who are born to mothers with hepatitis B may be protected from acquiring the infection by being immunized at birth against the infection. If a child acquires hepatitis B at birth, there is a high risk that the child will become a lifelong carrier of the infection.
Children who are infected with herpes in the womb, at delivery, or after birth may experience problems that range in severity from a mild skin infection to mental retardation and death. Again, knowing your and your partner’s status for herpes prior to and during the pregnancy, and taking appropriate precautions, can nearly eliminate these risks. Most problems occur when a woman does not know she has herpes during the pregnancy and therefore takes no precautions, or when she becomes infected while she is pregnant, which poses a greater risk for transmission. This is why partners must also be tested. There is also a risk of infection after the delivery from well-meaning but uneducated friends and relatives, who may pass the virus to the baby by kissing the baby, especially if they have an active cold sore.
The human papillomavirus, which causes genital warts, may cause vocal cord infection in a newborn during passage through the infected birth canal. Considering how common genital infection with this virus is, this is a rare occurrence.
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