Higher proportion of children aged younger than 5 years living with HIV experience interruptions in treatment <\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
THURSDAY, Nov. 30, 2023 (HealthDay News) — More infants and children aged younger than 5 years with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) die compared with those aged 5 years and older receiving ART, according to research published in the Dec. 1 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n Nickolas T. Agathis, M.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues compared mortality and related clinical measures among infants younger than 1 year and children aged 1 to 4 years living with HIV and receiving ART compared to those of older persons aged 5 to 14, 15 to 49, and 50 years and older living with HIV and receiving ART.<\/p>\n An average of 11,980 infants aged younger than 1 year and 105,510 children aged 1 to 4 years were receiving ART each quarter during October 2020 to September 2022; of these, 4.9 and 2.5 percent, respectively, were reported to have died annually. The researchers found that compared with the proportions of persons aged 5 years and older receiving ART, the proportions of infants and children who died ranged from four to nine times higher in infants aged younger than 1 year and from two to five times higher in children aged 1 to 4 years. The proportions of children aged younger than 5 years living with HIV who experienced interruptions in treatment were also higher compared with persons aged 5 years and older, while lower proportions were seen with a documented HIV viral load result or suppressed viral load.<\/p>\n “Prioritizing and optimizing HIV and general health services for children aged <5 years living with HIV receiving ART might help address the disproportionately poorer outcomes they experience,\" the authors write.<\/p>\n