Nevirapine During Pregnancy

In wealthy countries, HIV-infected women are usually given two or three antiretroviral drugs in the later stages of pregnancy to prevent AIDS transmission to a child.

The new study conducted by Harvard researchers working in Botswana have found that anti-AIDS cocktail treatments containing nevirapine are still effective if used six months after taking a dose of nevirapine to protect a baby during pregnancy. These findings settle previous fears that nevirapine cocktails encourage drug-resistant strains of the virus.

Health workers working in small clinics around the world have been administering nevirapine to pregnant women, typically providing them with a single pill to be taken when labor begins, and administering single doses of liquid nevirapine in the baby's mouth after birth.

These studies have shown to decrease the risk of prenatal HIV infection by half when administered under these circumstances. The drug is also commonly found in combination AIDS treatment pills supported by Western donors in poor countries. The drug is a cornerstone of antiretroviral AIDS treatment for poor women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America since the treatment is simple, effective, and inexpensive.