Hivid and Breastfeeding: An Overview
(This medication is no longer available. This medication was not discontinued for safety reasons. The manufacturer of Hivid chose to stop making it because current HIV treatment guidelines recommended using newer medications, rather than Hivid.)
At this time, it is not known if Hivid
® (
zalcitabine) passes through breast milk. In almost all situations, it is recommended that women with HIV or
AIDS in developed countries (such as the United States) avoid breastfeeding their infants. This helps to lower the chance of transmitting the HIV infection to their infants. Therefore, almost all women taking Hivid should not breastfeed.
Hivid and Breastfeeding: What Does the Research Say?
No research has been done to see if Hivid passes through breast milk in humans (or if it would cause any problems in the nursing infant). It is very important to understand that the HIV virus can pass through breast milk. Any HIV-infected woman who can safely feed her baby with formula should not breastfeed.
There are some situations in which formula feeding is not safe, such as if no clean water supply is available to mix the formula or wash the bottles. In these situations, it is difficult to know whether breastfeeding or formula feeding is more dangerous. In general, using both breastfeeding and formula feeding is considered to be the most dangerous situation, as
digestive system irritation or infections from unclean water can allow HIV to pass into the body (from the digestive tract) more easily.
