6/4/2008

Contact: Darin Dusan
310-491-3170
ddusan@pedaids.org

Today’s New England Journal of Medicine Features Research by Aldrovandi and Colleagues That Helped Prompt WHO to Change Breast-Feeding Guidelines

Washington, D.C.—Medical researcher Grace Aldrovandi, M.D., a 2004 winner of the prestigious Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award and a recipient of one of five Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Pediatric HIV Vaccine Research Program grants this year, today joined with 12 colleagues in publishing results of an influential study on the merits of “early cessation of breast-feeding” for HIV-infected mothers in the developing world. The article appears today on the Web site of the New England Journal of Medicine, and will be in the July 10 edition of the print version of the Journal.

The study of 958 HIV-positive mothers and their infants in Zambia was randomized to compare the infection and death rates of infants whose mothers stopped breast-feeding at four months or earlier, with those of infants whose mothers breast-fed longer. Breast-feeding is a vehicle for transmission of the HIV virus, but it is also critical to helping infants avoid such potentially deadly illnesses as diarrhea and pneumonia. In the United States, doctors urge HIV-positive mothers not to breast-feed and to instead give formula to their infants. Mothers in poor countries often face insurmountable barriers to formula feeding, including unsafe water, poor sanitation, and prohibitive cost.

The Zambia study found no differences in HIV-free survival between the two groups of infants – those whose mothers stopped breast-feeding at four months or earlier, and those whose mothers breast-fed longer. It also found no differences in the infants’ survival rates after two years. In fact, the study found an increased death rate among the babies who were HIV-infected in the early cessation group.

“Dr. Aldrovandi and her colleagues have made a significant contribution to mothers and children in the developing world,” said Dr. Cathy Wilfert, the Foundation’s scientific director of prevention of mother-to-child transmission. “Their research will give millions of young children who begin life in precarious circumstances a chance to live healthy and long lives. We’ve supported Dr. Aldrovandi’s work as part of our ongoing commitment to focusing resources on research and treatment of pediatric AIDS. We’re delighted to have been of help to her and to her colleagues in this groundbreaking study.”

Based in part on the results of the study, the World Health Organization has changed its guidelines and now recommends that doctors encourage new mothers to continue breast-feeding until their infants are at least six months old, and to continue breast-feeding unless it is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable, and safe to provide replacement feeding.

Dr. Aldrovandi is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Saban Research Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Her 2004 Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award included a five-year research grant of $682,500 for pediatric AIDS research. Her 2008 Pediatric HIV Vaccine Research Program award carried additional funding – five recipients received a total of $1 million. Her coauthors and fellow researchers in the Zambia research were Louise Kuhn, Ph.D., Moses Sinkala, M.D., M.P.H., Chipepo Kankasa, M.D., Katherine Semrau, M.P.H., Mwiya Mwiya, M.B., Ch.B., Prisca Kasonde, M.D., Nancy Scott, M.P.H., Cheswa Vwalika, M.B., Ch.B., Jan Walter, Ph.D., Marc Bulterys, M.D., Ph.D., Wei-Yann Tsai, Ph.D., and Donald M. Thea, M.D.

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About the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is a worldwide leader in the fight against pediatric AIDS. Its innovative research programs, collaborative training initiatives, advocacy efforts, and rapidly expanding international prevention and treatment programs are bringing dramatic changes to the lives of children worldwide.