Maternal –infant transmission of HIV-1

To the Editor: Connor et al. (Nov. 3 issue)¹report that a multicenter clinical trial, conducted in the United States and France, demonstrated a reduction in maternal–infant transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) with zidovudine treatment. Planning is now under way for studies of perinatal zidovudine in several African, Asian, and South American countries. In an ideal world, implementing zidovudine regimens to reduce maternal–infant HIV transmission in developing nations would be humane and appropriate. But in the real world, is this approach practical? Women in rural Africa often have little or no prenatal care, and identifying HIV-infected. . .