title: Effectiveness of early initiation of protease inhibitor-sparing antiretroviral regimen in human immunodeficiency virus-1 vertically infected infants.
abstract: Each of the 17 vertically infected infants born to HIV-1-infected mothers in Belgian HIV reference centers since 1996 was treated with a combination of 3 reverse transcription inhibitors as soon as the diagnosis was established. Treatment was initiated in all patients before 66 days of life. Twelve patients, including 11/13 infants treated with the combination of zidovudine, lamivudine and nevirapine, experienced a complete viral suppression (<50 copies/mL) with their first drug regimen. At last follow-up, 12 patients were asymptomatic, 2 were CDC stage A and 3 were stage B; 15 had HIV-1 RNA levels of <50 copies/mL and 14 had >or=25% CD4 lymphocytes. These results suggest that early initiation of treatment with 3 reverse transcription inhibitors is highly effective to inhibit viral replication and to prevent clinical and immunologic progression of HIV infection in vertically infected infants.
authors.affiliation: CHU Saint-Pierre, ULB, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Dimitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van der Linden
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hainaut
authors.forename: Tessa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goetghebuer
authors.forename: Edwige
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haelterman
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peltier
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levy
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors