Mother-child HIV-1 transmission in the departments of Mono and Couffo in Benin: incidence and associated factors in 2019

Abstract Background: Despite worldwide success of introducing HIV testing and treatment with antiretroviral drugs, HIV remains a real public health problem. Vertical mother-child transmission is a form responsible for many cases of new infections. This study was therefore carried out in order to reduce the prevalence of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in the departments of Mono and Couffo. Method: For this purpose, a total of 374 dry blood spots (DBS) were collected from infants born to HIV-positive mothers during the year 2019, and these DBS were used for the molecular diagnosis of HIV1 in these infants. Information on the type of treatment, the type of diet of infants was also collected. The viral loads of the mothers before delivery were determined after the last antenatal visits. To do so, a venous blood sample was taken from an EDTA tube. These different samples were used for DNA extraction. The early diagnosis of these infants as well as the determination of the viral load were carried out by RT-PCR using the Roche automated system. The results were analyzed with the chi-square test on the SPSS software. Result: The results showed that 51% of the newborns included in the study were male and the vast majority of the newborns were in the 0-6 month age group. 93.41% of the newborns included in this study were tested negative for early detection by RT-PCR. Significant links were observed between the early diagnosis of newborns and the mother's mode of feeding, the PMTCT protocol, and the viral load of the mothers. Monoprophylaxis was predominant in the newborn PMTCT protocol (96.28%). Conclusion: The national program for the prevention of vertical transmission of HIV from mother to child deserves to be continued and strengthened with the objective of zero newborns infected at birth in the departments of Mono and Couffo.