Can Early ART Help to Protect HIV-Positive Children Against Vaccine-Preventable Illnesses?

Among children with vertically transmitted HIV infection, those who initiated antiretroviral therapy by age 1 had better B-cell function and greater evidence of protection from childhood vaccines than did children who started ART later.

Beyond its known adverse effects on T cells, HIV infection has deleterious effects on the B-cell compartment, including a reduction in the total number of CD27+ memory B cells, impaired responses to routine immunizations, and a loss of immunization-derived protective immunity over time. Potent antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reconstitute CD4 T cells, but its effect on the function of the B-cell compartment is unclear.

To determine whether early initiation of ART during childhood improves the response to routine childhood vaccinations, researchers in Europe conducted a cross-sectional study of B-cell responses to measles, tetanus, and pneumococcus vaccines in 70 children (mean age, 13 years) with vertically transmitted HIV infection and 50 a…

Reviewing Author

Sonia Nagy Chimienti, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Sonia Nagy Chimienti, MD

Disclosures

Nothing to disclose

Can Early ART Help to Protect HIV-Positive Children Against Vaccine-Preventable Illnesses?

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Reviewing Author