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Samples were collected from the father and the child at two different times (Representative)
In a rare case, researchers discovered that a newborn had contracted his father's human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after coming into contact with the liquid that escaped from his body. 39, an injury to his skin.
The diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in the four-year-old child of an HIV-negative mother led to a forensic analysis to determine the source of the infection and attempt to date the transmission of the virus.
On the basis of a comparative analysis of genetic, phylogenetic and serological data of the father and son, researchers from the University of Lisbon in Portugal and his colleagues concluded that the virus had been accidentally transmitted to the son during the first days of the child's life.
Phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relationships, while serology is the study or diagnostic examination of blood serum.
Meanwhile, the father was being treated for varicella zoster (varicella) infection and syphilis when he developed large vesicles all over his body that leaked heavily, the researchers said.
The high production of viruses at the beginning of HIV infection would have made the liquids from the father's blisters very infectious, they said.
According to the study published in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, these infectious fluids could have come into contact with the newborn at the origin of this atypical event of HIV transmission.
"Although this type of HIV transmission from father to son is rare, it is important for the general public to understand that HIV is present in most bodily fluids and can be transmitted atypically and unexpectedly," said Thomas Hope. . Northwestern University in the United States.
"In this case, the situation of the fluids from skin blisters with the large amount of HIV present in the early months of HIV infection led to the unfortunate infection of a new- born, "said Hope.
The child was born in 2009 to an HIV-negative mother and was diagnosed with HIV-1 infection at the age of four, in January 2013.
Samples were taken from the father and the child at two points approximately four years after the birth of the child.
While mother-to-child transmission of HIV still occurs in many parts of the world and has been the subject of numerous investigations, few reports of father-to-child transmission have been reported, according to the researchers.
In one case, a 12-year-old girl was probably infected by her father, although no obvious pathway was found, they said.
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