Miller Children's Hospital's Bickerstaff Pediatric/Family Center Marks 10 Years Without A Mother-Baby HIV Transmission
LONG BEACH, Calif., Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Like any healthy 10-year-old, Joey* is enjoying a care-free summer of relaxation. With no place to be or any major responsibilities, he's escaping the heat by swimming and staying inside, spending hours playing video games. Joey's summer may have been very different -- full of daily medications and regular doctor visits -- had his mother, who is HIV-positive, not been treated for the disease while she was pregnant.
Joey is one of the first children -- and more than 200 to date -- born HIV-free under the care of Miller Children's Hospital's Bickerstaff Pediatric/Family Center (Center). The Center has treated pregnant women for more than 15 years and in June, the Center marked 10 years of treating pregnant women with HIV, during which time 100 percent of their babies have been born disease-free (before aggressive therapies existed, HIV was transmitted to approximately 25 percent of babies nationwide).
"We're proud to celebrate 10 years with zero transmissions," said Audra Deveikis, MD, medical director of the Center. "To save these babies from a lifetime of medication is what inspires us each day."
In 1994, the Center joined the national Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Group and participated in new treatment modalities and trial groups, including HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapies), a treatment of medications for pregnant women with HIV. After one year of trial, HAART became the standard of care for pregnant women with HIV.
Lowering the number of babies born with HIV has been a mission of the Center since its inception. Dr. Deveikis worked with Ob/Gyns to find ways to minimize HIV transmission from mother to newborn and discovered that delivery by Cesarean section was key. In addition, significant changes in Labor & Delivery have been made for HIV-positive pregnant women and their babies: Doctors avoid an amniocentesis, when possible, to prevent transmission through the needle; every baby is given an extra bath after delivery to ensure blood that could transmit the virus is completely removed; and the baby is given its standard vitamin K shot after the bath, instead of before, to avoid puncturing skin and having contaminated blood transmit at the injection site.
About the Miller Children's Pediatric/Family HIV Center
Established in 1989, the Miller Children's Hospital Bickerstaff Pediatric/Family Center offers complete medical management, education and ongoing support on an outpatient or inpatient basis. The Center, which was renamed in 2005 to reflect a generous $4.5 million gift from the Bickerstaff Family Foundation, conducts comprehensive evaluations of infants, children, adolescents and pregnant women who are at risk for or infected with HIV. Early diagnosis of children born to HIV-positive women is provided through routine blood testing and is an important component of the medical management of HIV/AIDS.
Services are designed to address the medical, emotional and social needs of children with HIV and their families. Treatment, when indicated, is administered by an interdisciplinary team of pediatric and adult infectious disease physicians, nurses, social workers, dietitians and child life specialists. The clinic serves the geographic area of greater Long Beach and surrounding communities including Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside County.
*Patient name has been changed to protect confidentiality.
Miller Children's HospitalCONTACT: Joni Ramirez, +1-562-933-2805, jmramirez@memorialcare.org, forMiller Children's Hospital