Health

HIV-1 infected children benefit greatly from combination therapy

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Researchers find mortality rates greatly reduced

Combination therapy including protease inhibitors has been available since 1996 for adults with HIV-1 infection. The therapy has slowed the progression of HIV-1 and drastically reduced the rate of mortality in adults. But how does the combination therapy work in children with HIV-1 infection? In the first prospective study in the United States to look at the effect of combination therapy among HIV-1 infected children and adolescents, researchers from the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the Harvard School of Public Health found that mortality rates among the study participants were dramatically reduced. “The study documents very substantial reductions in mortality among children and adolescents — prior to this we had evidence of improvements in viral loads, and a sense of reduced death — but now we have clear evidence,” said Steven Gortmaker, professor in the Department of Health and Social Behavior at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study. The research was supported by grants from the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Pediatric-Perinatal HIV Clinical Trials Network of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.