Babies Can Have Aids Virus through Pre-Chewed Food

For the first time, health officials report that the AIDS virus can be passed from an infected mother to her baby if she pre-chews the child's food as sometimes occurs in developing countries.Three such cases were reported in the United States :two in Miami and one in Memphis, Tennessee in which a child was infected in this way between 1993 and 2004. The mother was involved in two of the cases and a relative who acted as a caregiver was involved in the third.

It's blood, not saliva, that carried the virus because in at least two of the cases the infected mothers had bleeding gums or mouth sores.In developing countries, some mothers pre-chew food for babies. These women may lack access to packaged baby food or may not have a way to blend baby food.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say more study is needed. But they are asking parents and caregivers with HIV not to pre-chew infants' food, and are trying to educate doctors about this kind of transmission.

The researchers said HIV transmission appears to have occurred when the children ingested pre-chewed food that contained blood from the bleeding gums of HIV-infected women, and this entered the children's bloodstreams through a cut, sore or inflammation of the mouth or digestive tract.They said they ruled out other possible means of infection such as breast-feeding or blood transfusion.

The first involved a 15-month-old African-American boy in Miami, diagnosed in 1993. His great-aunt was infected with HIV and pre-chewed food for the boy when he was between the ages of 9 months and 14 months.

Then a girl, age 9 months, was diagnosed with HIV in 2004. The HIV-positive mother reported giving pre-chewed food to the child, who is still alive, receiving HIV drugs.

In a third case a 3-year-old Caribbean-American boy was diagnosed in 1995, also in Miami. His HIV-infected mother pre-chewed food for her son.

All three children were infected with HIV at a time they would have been teething and had inflamed gums. It may be that both a caregiver and a child must have wounds in their mouths for the virus to have a good chance of passing from one bloodstream to another, the investigators said.

"The researchers advise that health care providers and HIV-infected child caregivers should be aware of the potential health risks and should advise those caregivers against the practice of pre-chewing food for their infants," the CDC said.

"This would really take a lot of thinking before you could say, 'We've had three cases in 11 years, so you have to stop pre-chewing your child's food,'" Hagen said.