HIV woman on ARV therapy get pregnant from her hasband who has HBV and HCV Infection and is on treatment with peg-interferon and ribavirin .she is now 8 weeks pregnant. what is your advice to them

My first advice is to have this patient discuss these matters fully with her medical provider. Secondly, it is important to know if her husband has past exposure to Hepatitis B or has chronic infection with hepatitis B to determine the next course of events, ie. immunizations, etc. Thirdly, Hepatitis C is not commonly transmitted sexually, but can be. Hopefully if his treatment is working well, the chance of passing HCV to his wife is very low. Also, if he has not transmitted HCV to her before, it would be unlikely to happen now. Last, there is a THEORETICAL concern regarding ribavirin to the baby's development, although this concern is much less if she is not taking ribavirin directly herself. The concern regarding ribavirin is related to any drug affecting the sperm. The patient's medical provider can call the ribavirin registry to get the latest information on whether there are any documented cases of fetal abnormalities if the spouse is taking ribavirin.

Dr. McGovern