Risk of transmission of HIV to infants during breast/chest feeding when mothers/birthing parents living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy: a protocol for a rapid review

The objective of this rapid review is to explore and assess the available evidence on the effect of varying viral load levels on the risk of HIV transmission to infants during breast/chest feeding when the birthing or gestational parent living with HIV is on ART. Study characteristics will be summarised and reported to support the narrative summary of the findings. The focus will be on the absolute risk of HIV transmission from birthing parent to infant during chest/breast feeding. The findings will also be stratified by month, including the risk of HIV transmission for 6 months and greater than 6 months postpartum. We will ascertain the risk of bias using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2, Quality of Prognosis Studies and Downs and Black checklist for the appropriate study type. A summary score will not be calculated, rather the strengths and limitations of the studies will be narratively described. Ethics and dissemination No human subjects will be involved in the research. The findings of this rapid review will inform a future systematic review and will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, presentations and conferences. PROSPERO registration number CRD42024499393.
Source: BMJ Open - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Open access HIV/AIDS Source Type: research