Effect of antiretroviral therapy on clinical and immunologic disease progression in HIV positive children: One-year follow-up study

ABSTRACT

To study the effect of antiretroviral therapy [ART] on clinical, immunologic, and nutritional progression of disease in human immunodeficiency virus [HlV]-infected children for 1 year. The study included 54 children aged 1.5-15 years who registered at the ART center, Surat, from August 2007 to August 2009. During the study period, the children were followed-up at 6 monthly intervals up to 1 year after starting ART. World Health Organization [WHO] clinical staging and CD4 cell count as per national guidelines, and nutritional status were used to measure clinical and immunologic progression of disease up to 1 year. Out of 54 children, mother-to-child transmission was reported in 96.2% children;- for 74% of the children, both parents were HIV positive. All the children were classified according to WHO CO clinical staging into 4 stages and as per CD4 cell count [%] followed up at 6 and 12 months and the benefits with ART reported. At 12 months follow-up, 15% of the study group children had died. Both mean CD4 count and a relative percentage showed significant increase [P < 0.01] in the study group 1 year after ART. The present study reports benefits of ART in terms of clinical and immunologic progression of disease, nutritional status of HIV-infected children after 1 year of ART