Low maternal vitamin D is associated with an increased risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission and child mortality, investigators report in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.
“An increased risk of being HIV infected or of dying at birth was observed for children born to women with a low vitamin D level at baseline; a low maternal vitamin D level was also associated with HIV transmission via breast-feeding and with higher infant mortality during follow-up”, write the investigators.
It is already known that vitamin D levels can affect the functioning of the immune system and that maternal vitamin D levels have an impact on foetal growth. Furthermore, vitamin D supplementation has been shown to improve the outcome of tuberculosis therapy, which is significant in the context of HIV as tuberculosis is the single most important cause of illness and death in HIV-positive individuals.
There has, however, been little research into the impact of vitamin D levels in HIV-positive pregnant women and outcomes including adverse birth events, mother-to-child HIV transmission, infant death during the early months of life, or HIV transmission because of breastfeeding.
A study into the use of vitamin supplementation in HIV-positive women in Tanzania provided investigators with an opportunity to assess the importance of maternal vitamin D levels on such outcomes.
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