title: Improving survival among Brazilian children with perinatally-acquired AIDS.
abstract: Brazil was the first developing country to provide free, universal access to antiretroviral treatment for AIDS patients. The Brazilian experience thus provides the first evidence regarding the impact of such treatment on the survival of perinatally acquired AIDS cases in the developing world.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective cohort study used medical record reviews to examine characteristics and trends in the survival of a representative sample of 914 perinatally acquired AIDS cases in 10 Brazilian cities diagnosed between 1983 and 1998.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survival time increased steadily and substantially. Whereas half of the children died within 20 months of diagnosis at the beginning of the epidemic, 75% of children diagnosed in 1997 and 1998 were still alive after four years of follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Advances in management and treatment have made a great difference in the survival of Brazilian children with AIDS. These results argue strongly for making such treatment available to children in the entire developing world.
authors.affiliation: São Paulo State STD/AIDS Program, and Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo-SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiza Harunari
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Matida
authors.forename: Luiz Francisco
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Marcopito
authors.forename: Regina Celia de Menezes
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Succi
authors.forename: Heloisa Helena de Souza
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Marinella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Della Negra
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grangeiro
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hearst
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality* / Q000635:transmission; D000293:Adolescent; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents