Background: To describe the vertical transmission of HIV-1 by means of molecular methods.
Patients and methods: A prospective study between 1995 and 1998 of two groups of patients, A: 107 newborn infants to HIV-1 infected mothers, and B: 11 infants with clinical suspicion of HIV infection, born to mothers who didn't know being infected. DNA and RNA PCR as well as reverse transcriptase gen mutations were tested.
Results: Eleven infected patients were identified, four from group A and seven from group B. Viral load at the moment of diagnosis was higher than 100,000 copies/ml in all patients. Genotypic mutations of the studied codons were not detected in ten patients.
Conclusion: Molecular amplification techniques are useful for early diagnosis and follow-up of HIV infection acquired by vertical transmission.