Valerie Pham, Adeline M. Nyamathi, Maria L. Ekstrand, Sanjeev Sinha, Kartik Yadav, Sanghyuk S. Shin; Original publication date: Dec. 11, 2021; DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03537-w

Abstract

HIV stigma takes a multidimensional toll on a mother’s ability to care for herself and subsequently may impact her ability to care for her child, particularly when mother and child are seroconcordant. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to examine the association between maternal HIV stigma and child CD4 count in rural India. We assessed 108 mother–child dyads and found that a one-unit increase in community stigma fear decreased child CD4 count by 352 cells (95% CI=− 603,− 102), highlighting the need to develop a better understanding of the consequences of HIV-related stigma on the compounded burden of care in households where mother and child both live with HIV.