Human Immunodeficiency Virus Perinatal Acquisition: Evidence-Based Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Therapies in Patient Care

Ramos-Park, Silvia Raquel

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Silvia Raquel Ramos-Park, MBA, MSN, RN
School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to define the term mother to child transmission (MTCT) as it relates to perinatal HIV acquisition.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to discuss both medicinal and complementary alternative therapies in the prevention and management of perinatal HIV.

Purpose: Human immunodeficiency virus has disproportionately influenced communities of color. While African Americans and Latinos only constitute 12 – 17% of the population in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007), the HIV incidences within the two communities are respectively 45% and 17% (Hall et al., 2008). These vulnerable populations are in need of greater prevention efforts, which are directed toward cultural responsiveness, health activism, and behavioral interventions that aim to reduce and eliminate health inequities. The purpose of this research is to review the data of current evidence-based protocols for perinatal HIV acquisition and management, utilizing both medicinal and non-medicinal interventions.

Methods: Data sources include peer-reviewed research, randomized controlled trials (RCT) evaluating alternative and complementary therapies, International AIDS Society USA Panel and World Health Organization (WHO) internet data.

Results: Existing literature suggests that the two current identified initiatives targeted at reducing perinatal HIV acquisition are HIV therapeutics and complementary alternative therapies. While antiretroviral therapy is the gold standard treatment for both HIV and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) prevention, complementary, alternative, and indigenous therapies are gaining marked notoriety.

Conclusion: The impact of perinatal HIV management on both client and family can be very demanding. Implications for nursing practice include client-centered education, unbiased familial and peer support, and establishment of strong communication lines as paramount strategies in increasing positive patient outcomes. Nurse practitioners and researchers should implement more community-based peer interventions in order to decrease and subsequently eradicate the incidence of HIV at both the national and global level.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007). Mother-to-child (perinatal) HIV transmission and prevention. CDC HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/perinatal/resourecs/factsheets/pdf/perinatal.pdf.

Hall, H.I., Song, R., Rhodes, P., Prejean, J., An, Q.,et. al. (2008). Estimation of HIV incidence in the United States. JAMA. 300(5), 520-529.

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