Determinants of HIV infection among children born to mothers on prevention of mother to child transmission program of HIV in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a case control study

BACKGROUND: Despite wide spread use of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) by pregnant women living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the transmission rate is still higher by 18% after breastfeeding ends. The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting mother-to-child HIV transmission. METHODS: Unmatched case–control study was conducted in Addis Ababa, from April to May, 2017. A case was HIV positive mother who had been on PMTCT program with her child confirmed HIV positive at or before 24 months and control was HIV positive mother who had been on PMTCT program with her child tested definitive HIV negative at 24 months. Accordingly, 44 cases were identified and for each case four controls with the nearest date of birth to the cases were selected from same health facilities. Primary data collected from the mothers were supplemented by record reviews and entered to Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Multivariate logistic regression was fitted to identify factors independently associated with mother-to-child HIV transmission. RESULTS: Lack of participation in mother-to-mother support program (AOR: 5.1; 95% CI: 1.4, 18.1), low partner involvement (AOR: 6.9; 95% CI: 1.4, 13.4), poor ART adherence (AOR:3.1; 95% CI: 1.3, 7.5), positive syphilis test results (AOR: 3.2; 95% CI: 1.2, 8.6), maternal malnutrition (AOR: 3.1; 95% CI: 1.4, 6.8), unplanned pregnancy (AOR: 10.3; 95% CI: 3.9, 27.2), home delivery (AOR: 5.3; 95% CI: 1.4, 19.4) and mixed feeding of the child during first six months of life (AOR: 12.5; 95% CI: 2.9, 52.7) were significantly associated with MTCT of HIV. CONCLUSIONS: Mother-to-mother support, male partner involvement in PMTCT of HIV, strengthening antenatal care, counseling mothers on appropriate infant feeding options are important to reduce mother –to- child transmission of HIV. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-018-3217-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.