Incidence of mother-child transmission of HIV-1 in the departments of Mono and Couffo in Benin: The associated factors in 2019

Despite the worldwide success of the introduction of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and treatment with antiretroviral drugs, HIV remains a real public health problem. Vertical mother-to-child transmission is a form responsible for many cases of new infections. The objective of the study is to carry out an inventory of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in the departments of Mono and Couffo. A total of 374 drops of dry blood (DBS) were collected from infants born to HIV-positive mothers during the year 2019. Information on the type of treatment, the type of infant diet was also collected. These different samples were used for RNA extraction. The early diagnosis of these infants as well as the determination of the viral load were carried out by reverse transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) using the Roche automated system. The results showed that 93.41% of the newborns included in this study tested negative for early detection by RT-PCR. Significant associations were observed between early diagnosis of newborns and maternal feeding pattern, PMTCT protocol, and maternal viral load with regression logistics and Chi-square testing. Monoprophylaxis was predominant in the protocol for the prevention of neonatal mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) (96.28%). The national program for the prevention of vertical transmission of HIV from mother to child deserves to be continued and strengthened with the objective of zero newborns infected at birth in the departments of Mono and Couffo.