Metabolic acidosis and encephalopathy in an HIV-exposed infant on breastfeeding and maternal antiretroviral therapy.

Zidovudine (AZT) treatment during pregnancy, delivery, and the postnatal period is associated with adverse effects in the neonate such as bone marrow suppression, elevation in aspartate aminotransferase activity, and lactic acidosis. With antiretroviral therapy (ART) now being recommended for life in HIV-infected pregnant women, infants born to these mothers and on breastfeeds are going to be exposed to antiretrovirals for a longer duration. We report a rare case of an HIV-exposed infant who received AZT prophylaxis for 6 weeks after birth and was on exclusive breastfeed while the mother was on ART and presented with unexplained severe metabolic acidosis and encephalopathy.

Comparison of tuberculin skin test and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test in Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-vaccinated children.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to determine the concordance between QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) and tuberculin skin test (TST) in children vaccinated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was done at a pediatric tertiary care center in 33 BCG-vaccinated children aged 6 months-15 years suspected of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection or in contact with a patient with open tuberculosis (TB). All patients were tested for TST with purified protein derivative-S 5 tuberculin units and QFT-GIT assays. Concordance was evaluated between TST and QFT assay by kappa coefficient (k). Agreement between the tests was classified into categories: poor if k < 0.20, fair (k = 0.21-0.40), moderate (k = 0.41-0.60), good (k = 0.61-0.80), and very good (k = 0.81-1.00). RESULTS: Both the TST and QFT assay were positive in 13 and negative in eight children, respectively, resulting in an agreement of 63% (κ = 0.31). Eight children were <4 years of age of which only one patient had a positive TST and QFT-GIT, and TST and QFT-GIT were negative in two patients resulting in an agreement of 37.5% (κ = 0.063). Among children 4 years of age and older, 12 patients had a positive TST and QFT-GIT and 6 patients had a negative TST and QFT-GIT resulting in an agreement of 72% (κ = 0.41). Among 12 children who had been in contact with an adult having open TB, both the TST and QFT-GIT were positive in 6 patients and negative in two patients, respectively, resulting in an agreement of 66% (κ = 0.41). TST specificity was only 29.6% with a positive predictive value of 42.4% as compared to QFT-GIT. Among children <4 years of age, TST specificity was only 28.6% with a positive predictive rate of 16.7%, and among children >4 years of age, TST specificity was 50% with a positive predictive value of 66.7%. In patients with contact with a patient having TB, TST specificity was 33.3%. Considering TST of 15 mm and above as positive, TST specificity increased to 63.2% and a positive predictive value was 56.3%. CONCLUSION: The concordance of TST and QFT-GIT is low in children with previous BCG vaccination and especially in children <4 years of age. QFT-GIT may help to rule out false-positive TST.

Tenofovir in Indian children.

We describe our experience with tenofovir-based antiretroviral therapy in seven HIV-infected children after failure of first line antiretroviral drugs, or due to adverse effects to other antiretrovirals. For follow-up period of average 3.4 years, none had adverse effects or failure of treatment, indicating that tenofovir has good renal and gastrointestinal safety profile in HIV-infected Indian children and adolescents.