Mother to Child Transmission

Performance study to evaluate the clinical performance of the In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device MagIA H3S (a Multiplex Point-of-Care test for the combined detection of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and C and Syphilis) from pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) services in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This study aligns with the WHO 2022-2030 strategy for the integrated elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis.

The study will test trauma-informed obstetric care training and supervision for obstetric clinicians in relation to prenatal mental health and attachment formation (early predictors of child development) in women presenting for prenatal care in a public hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The human intestinal tract harbors a diverse and complex microbial community, known as gut microbiota, which is critical in sustaining physiology, metabolism, nutrition and immune function. Dysbiosis of gut microbiota has been linked with obesity, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, inflammatory bowel disease and other chronic inflammatory diseases. Gut microbiota is affected by host genetic markup, diet and life style; and therefore varied by human races and geographical locations. The development of gut microbiota starts before birth. The infant's microbiome can impact on human health in later life. The microbiome of pregnant women are associated with early-life microbiota of their offspring as well as growth, neurodevelopment and the development of allergic and neurocognitive disorders. Early childhood, when the microbiota is less mature and more malleable, is a golden age for microbiota manipulation to prevent disease. Studying microbiota at this golden age also allow us to dissect the development of a faulty microbiota and identify therapeutic targets to reverse it and cure diseases that are already developed.