A small ray of sunshine in the AIDS wars

Apparently the US is on the verge of eliminating infant HIV, largely because of the effectiveness of AZT in preventing mother-to-child transmission and because of wider use of prenatal HIV testing of mothers.

n 1990, as many as 2,000 babies were born infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS; now, that number has been reduced to a bit more than 200 a year, according to health officials. In New York City, the center of the epidemic, there were 321 newborns infected with H.I.V. in 1990, the year the virus peaked among newborns in the city. In 2003, five babies were born with the virus.

Across the country, mother-to-child transmission of H.I.V. has dropped so sharply that public health officials now talk about wiping it out.

It's only a tiny victory, but one that means everything to those new lives . . .

(via Think Progress)