Clinical outcome of children on HAART at police referral hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
BACKGROUND
Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource poor countries, like Ethiopia has become a reality. Provision of free ART started in Ethiopia in 2005. There are currently 134,586 children under 14 years living with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. While more than 1/2 of these children are expected to require ART, only 2512 (< 4%) were receiving it as of November 2006.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ART in children in Ethiopia


METHODS
Data on 50 children with AIDS and who were naïve for ART and for whom HAART was given beginning April 2005-December 2006 at Police force referral hospital, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was analyzed.


RESULTS
50 children, age < 13 years with a mean age of 5.8 years +/- 3.5 years, were given HAART for a median duration of 15.2 months. At enrollment, the mean CD4+ T cells percentage of 25 children was 9.5 percent +/- 5.8 percent. The mean percentage of CD4+ T cells of these 25 patients rose from 9.5 percent at base line to 18.7 percent +/- 9.8 percent at 6 months (P < 0.001). The mean weight gain at 6 months was 2.94 kg (95% CI, 2.31 to 3.57). For the age group < 5 years, the mean increase in Z-score for weight for age was 1.39 (95% CI, 0.48 to 2.295) at 6 months. There was a significant difference in the admission rates of patients on HAART, one year prior to and one year after ART initiation, with a mean of 1.08 and 0.27 admissions per person per year respectively (P < 0.001). Of the 50 children 3 (6 percent) died during follow-up. Treatment limiting toxic effects occurred in one of the 50 children on HAART (2 percent).


CONCLUSIONS
This data documents the efficacy and safety of ART in children even in resource poor countries. The outcomes are comparable to those in developed and some developing countries. This calls for more effort to make ART widely accessible to all children who need it.
Memirie
Solomon Tessema
ST
AAU, Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health.
D000293:Adolescent; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015430:Weight Gain
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents