Results from a recent study suggest that adolescents with HIV who are treated at pediatric clinics are less likely to discontinue antiretroviral therapy than adolescents treated at adult clinics.

“Adolescence and young adulthood is a unique period characterized by developmental and psychosocial change,” said Dr. Allison Agwu, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of the study.

“There must be careful consideration about what kinds of clinical sites may be best to provide care for this population,” she added.

The authors of the study speculated…

Results of a recent study show that the 10-year survival rates for children born with HIV who receive highly active antiretroviral therapy are more than double those for children who do not. As a result, survival rates have improved dramatically over the past two decades.

Most (84 percent) of the children in the study who did not survive were born before 1994, at least three years before highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became widely available.

“As antiretroviral utilization milestones were achieved throughout the course of this study, in going from…

Results from a recent Brazilian study indicate that, even when antiretroviral therapy in HIV-positive children is only partially effective at reducing viral loads, most children experience improved CD4 cell counts.

“Our study showed a good capacity for immunological recovery in pediatric patients infected by HIV, with CD4 response maintenance in subsequent years,” said Dr. Lílian Diniz, lead investigator of the study, in correspondence with The AIDS Beacon.

“Children in treatment without viral response are still able to recover their CD4 [percentages] to good levels,” she added. “Immunological and virological response…

This article is the first in a two-part series discussing Dr. Patrick Yeni’s presentation at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, entitled “15 Years of HAART: What Does the Future Hold?” The first article discusses new antiretrovirals and treatments for HIV. The second article discusses ongoing research efforts to find a cure for HIV.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has improved over the past 15 years and is now more effective, less toxic, and easier to take than earlier treatment regimens. However, there is still room for improvement,…

Este artículo es el primero de una serie de dos en los que se debate sobre la presentación del Dr. Patrick Yeni en la “18ª Conferencia Sobre Retrovirus e Infecciones Oportunistas”, titulada “15 años de la HAART: ¿qué nos depara el futuro?” Este primer artículo analiza los nuevos antirretrovirales y tratamientos para VIH. El segundo artículo habla de los esfuerzos de investigación en curso destinados a encontrar una cura para el VIH.

La terapia antirretroviral altamente activa (HAART, por sus siglas en inglés) ha mejorado en los últimos 15 años…