Lots of data over the years confirm that when any pregnant woman smokes she damages her unborn child. Now an article in the Journal of AIDS & Human Retrovirology indicates that if Mom is HIV-infected, the chance of her transmitting HIV to her fetus is substantially increased if she smokes. A non-smoking HIV-positive woman who does not take the available drug therapies to control her virus has about a 25% chance of infecting her child. If she smokes, that likelihood rises to 33%. (The baby’s chances are better either way if she takes the meds.) The researchers theorize that nicotine in cigarettes damages the membranes surrounding the fetus, facilitating HIV’s movement to the child.
HIV-positive people are advised not to smoke anyway, because the resulting lung impairment decreases one’s ability to handle the challenges of various opportunistic diseases such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. For a pregnant woman, that advice would seem to have double importance, and it’s a choice that has an impact on another person. She may not be able to undo her own infection, but she should do what she can to prevent infection to her unborn child.
— Sandy Bartlett, Community Information/Education Coordinator, AIDS Services of Austin
ASA Info Line: 458-AIDS, E-mail: ASA@fc.net
This article appears in August 20 • 1999 and August 20 • 1999 (Cover).