Introduction: Early infant diagnosis (EID) confers substantial benefit to HIV infected and HIV uninfected infants and to programmes providing prevention of mother to child transmission (MTCT), but has been challenging...Introduction: Early infant diagnosis (EID) confers substantial benefit to HIV infected and HIV uninfected infants and to programmes providing prevention of mother to child transmission (MTCT), but has been challenging to implement in resource limited settings. Objectives: To find out the rate of perinatal transmission in infants born to HIV positive mothers, to study the effect of various predisposing factors on HIV transmission and to evaluate the utility of dried blood spot (DBS) specimen for EID of HIV. Methods: Infants born to HIV positive mothers were tested according to National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) guidelines. Infants of 6 weeks to 6 months of age (n = 84) were diagnosed by DBS PCR;DBS positive results were confirmed by whole blood PCR. Infants 6 - 18 months (n = 47) were subjected to antibody test and if positive were confirmed by DNA PCR. Detailed history including type of delivery, single dose nevirapine (SDN) and breast feeding was taken. Results: The HIV transmission rate was 10.69%. In children ≤ 6 months, who did not receive SDN the positivity was 44.44% (4/9) whereas in those who received SDN it was 6.66% (5/75), (P = 0.0063). In children > 6 months the positivity rate was significantly higher in breast fed 42.85% (3/7) as compared to non breast fed 5% (2/40) children (P = 0.0187). There was 100% concordance between DBS and whole blood PCR. Conclusions: In resource limited settings, though HAART should be considered to further reduce MTCT during pregnancy and to prevent the emergence of resistance, SDN should be kept as an option for mothers coming directly in labour. Also, extended ART should be provided to mothers who want to breast feed their children. Early infant diagnosis using DBS specimens will further reduce the morbidity and mortality in these children.展开更多
Purpose: For commencement of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), CD4 count and/or WHO clinical staging is used as the guide in India. In western countries along with clinical and immunological criteria, HIV-1 viral load is ...Purpose: For commencement of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), CD4 count and/or WHO clinical staging is used as the guide in India. In western countries along with clinical and immunological criteria, HIV-1 viral load is also used to start the patient on treatment. The present study was conducted to determine the role of viral load in taking decision on ART commencement in HIV-1 infected treatment na?ve individuals. Method: A cross sectional study was carried out at the Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC) in the Department of Microbiology at a Tertiary care teaching hospital after Institutional Ethics Committee approval. After obtaining written informed consent, HIV-1 infected patients who were clinically asymptomatic, ART na?ve, having CD4 count ? TaqMan? HIV-1 Test. Result: During the study period of one year, 8966 HIV-1 infected patients were referred for CD4 count estimation. Of these 1624 patients had CD4 count <250 cells/mm3 and 405 patients were treatment na?ve. Of these 96 (23.70%) patients were clinically asymptomatic and were enrolled. Of those enrolled, ten (10.41%) had viral load less than 5000 copies/ml. Conclusion: Decision to start patient on ART can be made judiciously when viral load is used along with CD4 count estimation.展开更多
文摘Introduction: Early infant diagnosis (EID) confers substantial benefit to HIV infected and HIV uninfected infants and to programmes providing prevention of mother to child transmission (MTCT), but has been challenging to implement in resource limited settings. Objectives: To find out the rate of perinatal transmission in infants born to HIV positive mothers, to study the effect of various predisposing factors on HIV transmission and to evaluate the utility of dried blood spot (DBS) specimen for EID of HIV. Methods: Infants born to HIV positive mothers were tested according to National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) guidelines. Infants of 6 weeks to 6 months of age (n = 84) were diagnosed by DBS PCR;DBS positive results were confirmed by whole blood PCR. Infants 6 - 18 months (n = 47) were subjected to antibody test and if positive were confirmed by DNA PCR. Detailed history including type of delivery, single dose nevirapine (SDN) and breast feeding was taken. Results: The HIV transmission rate was 10.69%. In children ≤ 6 months, who did not receive SDN the positivity was 44.44% (4/9) whereas in those who received SDN it was 6.66% (5/75), (P = 0.0063). In children > 6 months the positivity rate was significantly higher in breast fed 42.85% (3/7) as compared to non breast fed 5% (2/40) children (P = 0.0187). There was 100% concordance between DBS and whole blood PCR. Conclusions: In resource limited settings, though HAART should be considered to further reduce MTCT during pregnancy and to prevent the emergence of resistance, SDN should be kept as an option for mothers coming directly in labour. Also, extended ART should be provided to mothers who want to breast feed their children. Early infant diagnosis using DBS specimens will further reduce the morbidity and mortality in these children.
文摘Purpose: For commencement of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), CD4 count and/or WHO clinical staging is used as the guide in India. In western countries along with clinical and immunological criteria, HIV-1 viral load is also used to start the patient on treatment. The present study was conducted to determine the role of viral load in taking decision on ART commencement in HIV-1 infected treatment na?ve individuals. Method: A cross sectional study was carried out at the Integrated Counseling and Testing Centre (ICTC) in the Department of Microbiology at a Tertiary care teaching hospital after Institutional Ethics Committee approval. After obtaining written informed consent, HIV-1 infected patients who were clinically asymptomatic, ART na?ve, having CD4 count ? TaqMan? HIV-1 Test. Result: During the study period of one year, 8966 HIV-1 infected patients were referred for CD4 count estimation. Of these 1624 patients had CD4 count <250 cells/mm3 and 405 patients were treatment na?ve. Of these 96 (23.70%) patients were clinically asymptomatic and were enrolled. Of those enrolled, ten (10.41%) had viral load less than 5000 copies/ml. Conclusion: Decision to start patient on ART can be made judiciously when viral load is used along with CD4 count estimation.
