Estimating the effect of maternal viral load on perinatal and postnatal HIV transmission: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although a growing body of evidence supports zero risk of sexual HIV transmission from a person with sustained virological suppression, known as U=U (undetectable equals untransmittable), data have been insufficient to determine whether this is also true for vertical HIV transmission. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify vertical transmission risk by maternal HIV viral load (mHVL) and to evaluate the applicability of U=U to perinatal and postnatal HIV transmission.

Methods

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the WHO Global Health Library, and abstracts from the International AIDS Society Conference and the Confe

SUBMITTER: Dugdale CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12262163 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature