HIV Death Rates for Children Plummeting
The death rates of children living with HIV have decreased ninefold since combination antiretroviral (ARV) therapy became widely available in the mid-1990s, according to results from a large pediatric HIV study published in the December 15 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. But there’s still tremendous room for improvement: Young people with HIV continue to die at 30 times the rate of youth of similar age who do not have HIV.
“A wonderful change has occurred: Most HIV-infected children now reach adulthood,” said Lynne Mofenson, MD, an author of the paper and chief of the Pediatric, Adolescent and Maternal AIDS branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). “Will these children have a normal lifespan? Unfortunately, we don’t have all the answers yet. Currently, we don’t have the means to prevent all the complications of HIV infection.”
Numerous studies have demonstrated that adults with HIV are living longer because of improvements in ARV therapy in the past 15 years. However, limited information has existed about the effectiveness of combination ARV treatment with respect to the survival of children with HIV. The current analysis delineates the effects of ARVs on the rates and causes of death for children and adolescents living with. n See Abstract here:
Posted: December 29th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Tags: Children and HIV, HIV