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A Descriptive Study of HIV-infected Long-term Surviving Children in Barbados: A Preliminary Report

Journal Authors: 
Issue: 
Pages: 
167–170

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To describe the clinical and immunologic characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1)-infected children surviving to more than eight-years of age (long-survivors) before the introduction of antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: This report is based on all the long-term survivors from a prospective cohort of HIVinfected children born to HIV-positive women in Barbados during 1986-1995. Infants born to HIVinfected women were enrolled into this cohort at birth or at the time of diagnosis of HIV exposure in the postnatal period and followed-up at regular intervals.

Results: From a cohort of 44 HIV-infected children, 17 (38.6%) children survived to the age of eight years and beyond and were classified as long-term survivors. Median age of the sixteen long-term surviving children alive at the time of this report was 12 years (age range 8 – 16.7 years). At the age of 8 years, 17.6% of these children remained asymptomatic. Nine (52.9%) children had no immunodeficiency (CD4 counts >500 cells x 106/L). Of the 16 long-term surviving children who were alive and had a median follow-up of 4.1 years (range 0.1 year to 8.5 years) after their eighth birthday, 37.5% had a CD4 cell count greater than 500 cells x 106/L and had either no symptoms or only mild symptoms of HIV infection and were therefore categorized as the long-term non-progressors.

Conclusion: In a small cohort of HIV-infected children, in the absence of antiretroviral therapy, only about one-third survived beyond eight years of age. On further follow-up of these long-term surviving children, over one-third had a slow rate of disease progression.

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e-Published: 05 Jun, 2013
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