Estimated number of infants born to HIV-infected women in the United States and five dependent areas, 2006

Abstract

Objective: Although perinatal HIV infections are declining in the United States, there is no single source of nationally representative data available to estimate the number of infants born to HIV-infected women in the United States and its dependencies. This study determines the total number of births to HIV-positive women in the United States and 5 dependent areas in 2006.

Study design: Diagnosed stage 1 or 2 HIV disease in the United States were based on reported data from 39 areas that conducted confidential name-based HIV case reporting and stage 3 HIV from all areas in the United States. A zero-inflated Poisson model was used to estimate the number of women aged 13-44 years living with diagnosed stage 1 or 2 HIV disease in the United States. The number of undiagnosed HIV-infected women (stage 1 or 2) of childbearing age was estimated from the number of reported Stage 3 HIV (ie, AIDS) cases using a back-calculation method.

Results: An estimated 115,200 women aged 13-44 years were living with stage 1 or 2 HIV disease in 2006. A total of 56,200 women were living with diagnosed stage 3 disease. The estimated number of births to all women living with HIV disease (diagnosed or undiagnosed) was 8700 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 8400 to 8800] in 2006.

Conclusions: The number of infants born to HIV-infected women in 2006 was approximately 30% greater than the number of such births (6075-6422) in 2000. This increase highlights the need to continue and strengthen efforts to prevent perinatal HIV transmission in the United States.