TIME is of the essence. Giving HIV-positive infants prompt treatment halves their risk of dying early in childhood. The finding builds on results earlier this year showing that a baby and 14 adults were effectively "cured" by early treatment.
In 2005, Mark Cotton of Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa, began a study of 377 South African infants aged 6 to 12 months. One-third received no antiretroviral drugs until their immune system showed signs of weakening, in line with standard practice at the time. The others received the drugs at 7 weeks of age, on average. Of these, half were treated for 40 weeks, the others for 96 weeks.
Five years later, 21 "delayers" had died, compared with 11 and nine in the two "early" groups. What's more, 24 of the infants who had 40 weeks of treatment and 40 that received 96 weeks remain off medication (The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/S0140 6736(13)61409-9).
Current guidelines say babies can have antiretrovirals at 6 weeks of age, but most HIV-positive babies start treatment at 6 months, Cotton says. He hopes the findings will help change that.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Swift treatment helps tots with HIV"
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