SA: HIV-Positive Babies Fare Better When Treatment Starts at Birth

Everyday between 300 and 500 babies in Sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV according to UNAID. Up to 50% of these children will die by the age of 2 if they do not receive antiretroviral therapy, with infants infected in utero facing the worst outcomes. New research suggests that HIV-positive babies should begin antiretroviral therapy as soon after birth as possible because a newborn immune system appears to respond to the HIV infection less effectively than an older baby. 10 HIV-positive babies began the treatment hours or days after birth, as opposed to the usual 4 months post-birth. The babies that started treatment earlier were observed to have lower levels of immune activity and viral levels in their bloodstream, which predict the course of the disease. They were compared at two years old to other children who received the treatment beginning at four months. Researchers believe that this finding gives hope to discovering a long lasting treatment or cure.

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