This article is from the Pregnancy Screening FAQ, by Lynn Gazis-Sax (gazissax@netcom.com) with numerous contributions by others.
See above. There are also some net resources for further information
about sexually transmitted diseases. The following Worldwide Web
directories contain information about sexually transmitted diseases
(under various document names):
http://128.255.152.37/IowaHealthBook
http://128.255.152.37/IowaHealthBook
http://h-devil-www.mc.duke.edu/h-devil/stds
gopher://gopher.cc.columbia.edu
One reason to screen for AIDS in particular is evidence that AZT, when
administered to pregnant women, can dramatically reduce the incidence
of maternal-fetal HIV transmission. In August of 1994, the FDA
approved AZT for use in preventing transmission of HIV from
HIV-infected pregnant women to their babies, as a result of data from
a federally sponsored study. "In this randomized, placebo-controlled
trial, HIV-infected women received 500 mg of AZT per day orally during
pregnancy and a continuous intravenous infusion of AZT during labor.
Therapy was begun between 14 and 34 weeks after conception. . . . The
study was halted when a planned interim review of the data showed that
for women treated with AZT the estimated rate of transmitting the
virus to their babies was reduced by approximately two-thirds, from
25.5 percent infected babies from women on placebo to 8.3 percent
infected babies from women on the AZT regimen. A long-term followup
study of babies exposed to AZT is under way." (Source: HICN739 Medical
News, August 25, 1994.)
 
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