March 24th-- From the citywide maternal and child health working group meeting, Jinhua Municipality has reported 8 cases of HIV infection among pregnant women over the last year.  Except for one expectant mother, the other seven cases of HIV-carrier pregnant women had their babies delivered with mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV.

As the number of HIV-infected persons has increased in Jinhua Municipality, the health department has gradually given more attention to researching MTCT.  The municipal center for disease control and prevention (CDC) discovered that their youngest HIV-infected person was infected through MTCT.  Currently, this child has reached the age to attend elementary school.

Out of the 8 cases of HIV-infected pregnant women detected in Jinhua Municipality in 2007, one was detected during her pregnancy while seven were during delivery.  Amongst them, there were two cases each from Yiwu, Dongyang, Yongkang and Pujiang.  Last year, Zhejiang Province detected a total number of 52 cases of HIV-infected pregnant women.

Experts have said that although there is no effective medication at the moment it is possible to stop HIV transmission for the MTCT mode.  As long as early intervention is taken, the child can definitely be safely delivered without being infected with HIV.