Swine flu and underlying health conditions

There is no indication that being HIV-positive increases the risk of death from swine flu, according to a French study looking at all swine flu deaths that occurred before mid-July.

The principal underlying conditions associated with death are obesity and diabetes. Respiratory and heart disease were also factors in some deaths.

But the overall death rate from swine flu is low and HIV was not named as a specific risk factor.

People with HIV are not thought to be at increased risk of contracting swine flu, nor of having complications unless they have a CD4 cell count of less than 200.

People with HIV will be one of the priority groups to receive the swine flu vaccination when it becomes available in the autumn.

If you have flu-like symptoms and are concerned, you can call the National Pandemic Flu Service on 0800 1 513 100 or use their website to assess your symptoms. Alternatively you could contact your doctor for further advice.

If you do have a low CD4 cell count, then you should contact your clinic if your flu symptoms won’t go away or get worse despite taking anti-flu treatment. Your doctor will be able to monitor your health and see if your symptoms are being caused by other illnesses.

HIV and transmission

HIV and women

HIV transmission and breastfeeding

A mother can pass on HIV to her baby through breastfeeding, and therefore HIV-positive mothers should not breastfeed in settings, such as the UK, where safe alternatives are available.

A study in China has shown a high risk of HIV transmission from mother to child when a woman becomes infected herself after the baby has been born and then continues to breastfeed.

The infection rate (36% of babies born to women in the study were HIV-positive) was much higher than in babies of women whose HIV was diagnosed early in pregnancy.

Much less is known about the risk of transmission when the mother is diagnosed late in her pregnancy or after delivery. This study suggests that infection rates were much higher than in women with chronic HIV infection, perhaps because the women more recently infected had higher viral loads and were therefore more infectious.

Transmission rates were much higher in babies of women who had mastitis or other breast problems causing cracked nipples.