Kyrgyz mothers catching HIV from babies

[kalisis]

OSH, Kyrgyzstan - Not long ago, she was a wife, mother and teacher. Now Dilfuza Mustafakulova is HIV-positive and has lost her husband and her job.

Mustafakulova's baby son was among 72 children infected with the virus at two Kyrgyz hospitals. And now 16 mothers also have contracted it — in some cases by breast-feeding their children.

Full Story Here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24034536/

[LittlePeanut]

Is that even possible???

LP

[LittlePeanut]

I see from the article that it is but not in the way I thought they had implied (i.e. via BM).

LP

[Meiri]

Some told me years ago that this was happening in Russia: baby gets infected due to needle reuse, baby then infects mother from breastfeeding (that wonderful feedback mechanism that lets our bodies know what immunities to give back to baby).

I'm sadly not surprised.
What I don't get is why the mothers aren't being treated too. Just who do those authorities think is going to raise those children who are being treated and now may outlive their untreated mothers?

[mamajake]

I am very suspicious about this story. So far I haven't been able to find any studies concerning HIV transmission via this route. Though this seems theoretically possible, it would be statisically highly unlikely. Note in the story that not all the child-to-mother HIV transmission is attirbuted to breastfeeding - so then how did the other cases happen and how did they decide which cases were which? And all of these babies had mouth sores and all of these mothers had cracked nipples? Looks like another "go for the eye-catching headline" job by the Associated Press. :