by Md Saiful Islam Shameem, Bangladesh’s national news agency, [BSS]
DHAKA, July 26 - The son of Bangladesh's first known HIV positive couple has been tested for the HIV virus and found to be negative. The couple, who publically announced their positive status before getting married in an effort to encourage other couples to be more open with their HIV status.
Born in 2005, the 30-month old boy is now fully safe and sound with a14- kilogram weight and a good body mass index (BMI), doctors said, disclosing the confirmed test report to BSS today, after hiding the preliminary ELISA (Enzime Linked Immunosorbent Assay)test report for almost a year.
The boy, whose name is synonymous to `fortunate', was given formula milk up to the age of two years to check mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency syndrome virus (HIV) from breast milk and being given normal food for last six months.
DHAKA, July 26 - The son of Bangladesh's first known HIV positive couple has been tested for the HIV virus and found to be negative. The couple, who publically announced their positive status before getting married in an effort to encourage other couples to be more open with their HIV status.
Born in 2005, the 30-month old boy is now fully safe and sound with a14- kilogram weight and a good body mass index (BMI), doctors said, disclosing the confirmed test report to BSS today, after hiding the preliminary ELISA (Enzime Linked Immunosorbent Assay)test report for almost a year.
The boy, whose name is synonymous to `fortunate', was given formula milk up to the age of two years to check mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency syndrome virus (HIV) from breast milk and being given normal food for last six months.
Before the birth of the boy, the mother was given anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy and nutritional food by an international NGO for a year during pregnency.
"My son is quite normal and healthy now, although we were afraid in the first two years because of his frequent illness from diarrhea, cold and fever," said the father of the boy, who got HIV infected during his overseas employment in the Middle East 14 years ago. He said they have taken all out precautions to minimize the risks of HIV transmission to child at the womb.
Physicians say there is a 33 percent possibility of transmuting HIV to baby at the infected mother's womb, but it can be minimized through nutritional support, precaution and proper drugs, which is expensive in the context of developing country like Bangladesh. A child can also be infected from mother during delivery and breast-feeding.
"I am lucky because I got every support starting from ARV to surgery to formula milk from my employing organization," said the proud mother, who once had lost all hopes and aspirations soon after she was diagnosed with HIV in 1999. The mother, who has a
low level of CD4 blood cell counts, now uses triovix of ARV, which is a combination of three drugs- lamivudine, nevirapine and ziduvudine.
Unlike the baby and his parents, all other people living with HIV (PLHIV) are not so fortunate. The wedding of the first couple have encouraged many to tie knots among their peers and give births to kids subsequently, but all are not fortunate to have prenatal and post natal care, scissoring delivery at good hospitals and ARV therapy, a drug that costs Taka 4,200 per month here.
Sources said at least 10 PLHIV couple has become parents after the birth of the boy (mr. fortunate), which drew the media attention in 2005, and five more women are expecting their kids by this year. However, the doctors and NGOs fear that if the trend continues in a poor setting like Bangladesh, the number of child HIV positive may go up.
A baby is a dream for every couple, said another PLHIV mother, who gave birth to a daughter six months ago without proper supports from any quarters. All positive women expect a child, she said, because children are the `candlelight in darkness' for a HIV positive people.
But PLHIV can seldom dare to opt kids due to fear of poverty, pregnancy complexities and future of the child, who might also become another PLHIV and would die after a certain period of time. A child from PLHIV mother is being tested for HIV after 18 months of age.
According to the government statistics, a cumulative total of 874 cases of HIV/AIDS have been confirmed and reported at hospitals as of 1st December 2006, the World AIDS Day. Out of them, 240 have developed AIDS and 109 have died already. But only over 100 of the total PLHIV have access to ARV through a generous arrangement of a private bank's corporate social responsibility (CSR), a new concept flourishing in Bangladesh.
The country has a low level of HIV prevalence (less than 1 percent) among general population, but virologists and interventionists fear the situation may explode anytime because of conductive socio-economic factors and high-risk behavior by injecting drug users (IDU), commercial sex workers (CSW), male having sex with male (MSM), and tansgenders.
There are also low levels of HIV and AIDS awareness; migration and trafficking; poverty gaps; low nutritional status; gender inequalities that place women and young girls at risk; and gaps in the healthcare delivery system. The government estimates the number of HIV/AIDS cases is 7,666 in Bangladesh, a number which others say much lower than the actual figure.
"My son is quite normal and healthy now, although we were afraid in the first two years because of his frequent illness from diarrhea, cold and fever," said the father of the boy, who got HIV infected during his overseas employment in the Middle East 14 years ago. He said they have taken all out precautions to minimize the risks of HIV transmission to child at the womb.
Physicians say there is a 33 percent possibility of transmuting HIV to baby at the infected mother's womb, but it can be minimized through nutritional support, precaution and proper drugs, which is expensive in the context of developing country like Bangladesh. A child can also be infected from mother during delivery and breast-feeding.
"I am lucky because I got every support starting from ARV to surgery to formula milk from my employing organization," said the proud mother, who once had lost all hopes and aspirations soon after she was diagnosed with HIV in 1999. The mother, who has a
low level of CD4 blood cell counts, now uses triovix of ARV, which is a combination of three drugs- lamivudine, nevirapine and ziduvudine.
Unlike the baby and his parents, all other people living with HIV (PLHIV) are not so fortunate. The wedding of the first couple have encouraged many to tie knots among their peers and give births to kids subsequently, but all are not fortunate to have prenatal and post natal care, scissoring delivery at good hospitals and ARV therapy, a drug that costs Taka 4,200 per month here.
Sources said at least 10 PLHIV couple has become parents after the birth of the boy (mr. fortunate), which drew the media attention in 2005, and five more women are expecting their kids by this year. However, the doctors and NGOs fear that if the trend continues in a poor setting like Bangladesh, the number of child HIV positive may go up.
A baby is a dream for every couple, said another PLHIV mother, who gave birth to a daughter six months ago without proper supports from any quarters. All positive women expect a child, she said, because children are the `candlelight in darkness' for a HIV positive people.
But PLHIV can seldom dare to opt kids due to fear of poverty, pregnancy complexities and future of the child, who might also become another PLHIV and would die after a certain period of time. A child from PLHIV mother is being tested for HIV after 18 months of age.
According to the government statistics, a cumulative total of 874 cases of HIV/AIDS have been confirmed and reported at hospitals as of 1st December 2006, the World AIDS Day. Out of them, 240 have developed AIDS and 109 have died already. But only over 100 of the total PLHIV have access to ARV through a generous arrangement of a private bank's corporate social responsibility (CSR), a new concept flourishing in Bangladesh.
The country has a low level of HIV prevalence (less than 1 percent) among general population, but virologists and interventionists fear the situation may explode anytime because of conductive socio-economic factors and high-risk behavior by injecting drug users (IDU), commercial sex workers (CSW), male having sex with male (MSM), and tansgenders.
There are also low levels of HIV and AIDS awareness; migration and trafficking; poverty gaps; low nutritional status; gender inequalities that place women and young girls at risk; and gaps in the healthcare delivery system. The government estimates the number of HIV/AIDS cases is 7,666 in Bangladesh, a number which others say much lower than the actual figure.
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