Article Time for Option B? Prevalence and Characteristics of HIV Infection among Attendees of 2 Antenatal Clinics in Buea,

As countries consider a wider use of triple antiretroviral therapy (ART) in pregnancy, which in recent World Health Organization guidelines is called Option Bþ, this study sought to explore the potential implications of adopting Option Bþ by characterizing HIV infection in pregnant women attending 2 semiurban antenatal clinics in Cameroon. In a descriptive cross-sectional study, consenting women were screened for HIV; positive samples were confirmed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, and CD4 levels and HIV viral loads were determined using flow cytometry and reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, respectively. The ser-oprevalence of HIV in the 407 pregnant women screened was 8.4 % (95 % confidence interval: 5.9%-11.5%). Themajority (82.4%) of HIV-positive women had CD4 counts>350 cells/mm3. A quarter (25%) had undetectable viral levels (<80 copies/mL). Adopting Option Bþ in this setting would result in a 5-fold increase in the number of HIV-infected pregnant women being placed on lifelong triple ART