Human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection in neonates: correlation of plasma and cellular viremia and clinical outcome. French Pediatric Cohort Study Group.
Among human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) vertically infected children, two patterns of disease progression have been observed: about 25% develop a severe immunodeficiency within the first 2 years of life; the rest experience a slower progression, like adults. We have assessed infectious viral burden in infected neonates through the French National Prospective Study. Plasma and cell-associated viremia were assayed by endpoint-dilution cultures in samples from 46 infants followed prospectively from birth. Plasma and cell-associated viral burden were found to be significantly higher in rapid progressing infants than in non-progressing infants in the first months of life: before the age of 2 months, between 2 and 4 months of age and by the age of 6 months. Moreover, among the non-progressing children, the infectious viral burden before the age of 4 months was predictive of the viral burden measured after the age of 12 months. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that infectious viral load is a reliable predictive marker for rapid progression to AIDS in infants and could be useful for initiating antiretroviral therapy.
Rouzioux
C
C
Laboratoire de Virologie, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France.
Burgard
M
M
Chaix
M L
ML
Delamare
C
C
Cirau
N
N
Bouiller
B
B
Cateloy
S
S
Allemon
M C
MC
Broyart
C
C
Ciraru
N
N
Floch
C
C
Lelorier
P
P
Lachassine
E
E
Mazy
F
F
Narcy
P
P
Saillant
J
J
Salomon
J L
JL
Seaume
H
H
Talon
P
P
Mayaux
M J
MJ
Blanche
S
S
D000367:Age Factors; D018450:Disease Progression; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000151:congenital* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015497:HIV-1; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019562:Viral Load; D014766:Viremia