The analysis pooled information from a number

The analysis pooled information from a number of studies that took place in Africa, said the NICHD author of the study, Jennifer Read, M.D., M.P.H., of NICHD's Pediatric Adolescent and Maternal AIDS Branch. Dr. Read explained that one of the greatest strengths of the study was the large number of children included in the analysis. Taken together, the number of children in the study was much larger than in any of the studies that attempted to address the issue previously. All of the studies included in the larger analysis regularly assessed the infants' feeding patterns as well as their HIV infection status, beginning shortly after birth.

For the analysis, researchers examined information on 4,085 children in 9 studies. A total of 3,025 children in the study had negative HIV test results at 4 weeks of age and were breastfed through at least 28 days of age. Of these 3,025 children, 223 had late postnatal transmission - testing negative for HIV at 4 weeks of age, but testing positive after that time. The remainder of who were uninfected at 4 weeks of age did not become infected.