Improving survival among Brazilian children with perinatally-acquired AIDS.
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.
Matida
Luiza Harunari
LH
São Paulo State STD/AIDS Program, and Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo-SP, Brazil.
Marcopito
Luiz Francisco
LF
Succi
Regina Celia de Menezes
RC
Marques
Heloisa Helena de Souza
HH
Della Negra
Marinella
M
Grangeiro
Alexandre
A
Hearst
Norman
N
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
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents