Over Half of Medicaid-Insured Infants Born With HIV Had No Preventative Treatment

Greater than half of infants insured through Medicaid who were diagnosed with HIV within the first year did not receive postnatal antiretroviral prophylaxis, according to a new study presented at IDWeek 2024.

In this population-based retrospective study, which marks the first large-scale analysis of either postnatal or prenatal prophylaxis use, researchers used the MarketScan Multi-State Medicaid Database from 2009 to 2021 to identify antiretroviral use among infants.

The results showed that of 52 infants infected with HIV, 27 (51.9%) did not receive postnatal prophylaxis. According to the researchers, the findings are indicative of undetected maternal infections.

“While testing and treatment regimens for perinatal and postnatal HIV prevention have evolved, continued evaluation of how they work in the real world is needed,” said Mingyue Lu, PhD student in health policy and administration at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health and presenting author. “Data suggest that clinicians are following national guidelines reasonably well. However, these highly effective interventions can be used only when maternal HIV infection is known. Therefore, efforts to minimize missed maternal HIV infection are crucial.”