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SDG 3: HIV/AIDS

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Pregnant women in the Netherlands are screened for HIV during the first trimester. Insight into characteristics of women diagnosed with HIV may help identify groups who could benefit from testing strategies.

AIM

We assessed the contribution of HIV diagnoses during pregnancy to the total number of diagnoses among women in the Netherlands between 2016 and 2023 and identified socioeconomic characteristics of women with an antenatal diagnosis.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional analysis, we selected women aged 15–50 years registered in the national ATHENA cohort and diagnosed with HIV in the Netherlands. Each pregnant woman with HIV was matched by year of pregnancy to three pregnant women without HIV from the general population using non-public registry data from Statistics Netherlands. Characteristics were examined using multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

Ninety-two of 523 women with HIV were diagnosed during pregnancy. These women less often had an advanced HIV infection than non-pregnant women with HIV (22 vs. 47%). Eighty-three of 92 pregnant women with HIV were matched with 249 pregnant women without HIV. Being diagnosed during pregnancy was associated with first- (aOR: 14.1; 95% CI: 6.45–30.6) or second-generation migration background (aOR: 5.38; 95% CI:2.02–11.0), income below the poverty line (aOR: 3.46; 95% CI: 1.28–9.34) and living in a single-parent household (aOR: 3.46; 95% CI: 1.52–7.88).

CONCLUSION

Antenatal HIV diagnoses accounted for a substantial part of diagnoses among women; pregnant women were less likely to present with advanced-stage disease. These findings show the importance of universal antenatal HIV screening.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.37.2600048
2026-09-17
2026-10-14
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.37.2600048
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Identifying socioeconomic characteristics of pregnant women aged 15–50 years diagnosed with HIV during pregnancy, the Netherlands, 2016 to 2023
<p class="citation"> <span>Citation style for this article:</span> <span class="meta-value authors"> <a href="/search?value1=Colette+Smit&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Smit Colette</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Vita+Jongen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Jongen Vita</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Jeannine+Nellen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Nellen Jeannine</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Tania+Mudrikova&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Mudrikova Tania</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Elisabeth+van+Leeuwen&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van Leeuwen Elisabeth</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Nina+Schat&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Schat Nina</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Rosan+van+Zoest&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van Zoest Rosan</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ard+van+Sighem&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van Sighem Ard</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Eline+Op+de+Coul&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Op de Coul Eline</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Marc+van+der+Valk&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">van der Valk Marc</a>, <a href="/search?value1=on+behalf+of+the+ATHENA+observational+HIV+cohort&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">on behalf of the ATHENA observational HIV cohort</a></span>. Identifying socioeconomic characteristics of pregnant women aged 15–50 years diagnosed with HIV during pregnancy, the Netherlands, 2016 to 2023. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2026;31(37):pii=2600048. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.37.2600048" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.37.2600048</a> <span class="ES_Article_citation"> <span class="generated">Received</span>: 16 Jan 2026;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="generated">Accepted</span>: 02 Jun 2026 </span> </p>
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.37.2600048
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.37.2600048
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