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ELECTRONIC ARTICLE:
Cynthia Chase, Janice Ware, Joan Hittelman, Ileana Blasini, Antolin Llorente, Elizabeth Anisfeld, Clemente Diaz, Mary Glenn Fowler, Jack Moye, Leslie I. Kaligh, and for the Women and Infants Transmission Study Group
Early Cognitive and Motor Development Among Infants Born to Women Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Pediatrics 2000; 106: e25 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
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P3Rs published:

[Read P3R] What is the real culprit?
Cory Mermer   (7 August 2000)
[Read P3R] Author Response
Cynthia Chase   (18 August 2000)

What is the real culprit? 7 August 2000
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Cory Mermer,
Medical Researcher/Writer

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Re: What is the real culprit?

camermer{at}home.com Cory Mermer

I am curious as to how the cognitive or motor developmental problems can be attributed to the virus itself and not to the various drugs which the mothers were taking. To accurately determine this, wouldn't it require all mothers in the study to not have taken any medications or at least to have an unmedicated control group to see if any effects are being caused by the drugs?

Author Response 18 August 2000
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Cynthia Chase,
Pediatric Neuropsychologist
Dept. of Psychiatry, Boston Medical Center

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Re: Author Response

cynthia.chase{at}bmc.org Cynthia Chase

It is not our impression on a clinical basis that drugs taken by mothers prenatally adversely affect motor or cogntive development in their infants. This study has demonstrated a very signficant decrease intransmission rate as the result of prenatal treatment and we would predict that such treatment also would be assocated with a lower rte of abnormality in mental and motor performance in infants. However, you are correct that this needs to be examined in future data analyses, both for HIV-infected and HIV-exposed but uninfected infants.