Progression of disease in HIV infected children slowed after the first year of life
QUESTION: In children with HIV infection at birth, who received differing treatment protocols, what are the clinical and immunological manifestations during the first 10 years of life?
Design
Cohort study with a median of 5.8 years of follow up.
Setting
11 paediatric centres in 7 European countries.
Patients
170 HIV infected children who were born to mothers known to be infected with HIV at the time of delivery.
Assessment of prognostic factors
Children were categorised into 3 cohorts according to the treatment policy at the time of birth. Cohort 1 consisted of children born from 1985–8 when no recommendations for treatment existed; cohort 2 consisted of children born from 1989–94 when the treatment policy was restricted to monotherapy for symptomatic children; and cohort 3 consisted of children born from 1995–9 when the initiation of combination therapies was recommended at an early stage. Children were allocated to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categories for clinical manifestations (N = asymptomatic, A = mildly symptomatic, B = moderately …
