HAART effective at preventing illness and death in babies

The provision of HAART to HIV-positive babies in the first six months of life effectively prevents the early onset of HIV disease, according to French data presented to the Second International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Paris on July 14^th.

The benefits of HAART in adults are well established, however there is less evidence about the ability of anti-HIV therapy to reduce illness and death in infants and younger children.

Investigators involved in the French Prospective Cohort evaluated the risks of death and opportunistic infections in new-borns who were given HAART in the first six months. Data was also collected on the occurrence of encephalopathy, a common complication in HIV-positive infants in the pre-HAART era.

Results were compared with a control population of HIV-infected infants born before the availability of effective anti-HIV treatments.

A total of 85 HIV-infected new-borns were included in the study, 35 of whom were treated with appropriate paediatric HAART formulas within six months of birth.

Demographic and immunological characteristics did not differ between the 35 HAART-treated infants and the 403 HIV-positive infants included in the study as controls.

By 18 months of age, only one HAART-treated infant developed an HIV-related opportunistic infection, and no cases of encephalopathy were recorded. None of the infants died.

In the pre-HAART era, 6% of infants developed an AIDS-defining opportunistic infection in the first 18 months of life, 12% developed encephalopathy, and 12% died.

The investigators conclude that HAART is effective at preventing the early onset of severe HIV disease in infants.