Information could not be obtained for three asymptomatic children. Due to these distinct situations that influenced the timing of HIV diagnosis, children began to attend the clinic at mean ages of 4.5 years (SD = 4.1), 4.3 years
(SD = 3.5), and 0.8 years (SD = 1.8), respectively. Children assessed for AIDS-related symptoms were compared vis-à-vis the other two groups (i.e. those enrolled after family Selleck PLX3397 screening or routine follow-up of infants born to an HIV-infected mother). Mean age at study entry was 9.2 years (SD = 4.3). At the time of referral to HIV specialized care centers, 90/260 subjects were classified as CDC clinical category N (34.6%); 27/260, as clinical category A (10.4%); 73/260, as clinical category B (28.1%); and 68/260, as clinical category C (26.2%). Information could not be obtained for two children. 83/260 (31.9%) already had advanced immunodeficiency (CDC 3 immune category). Thus, 116/260 (44.6%) of children/adolescents had already progressed to AIDS http://www.selleckchem.com/products/Vandetanib.html when first admitted to care (CDC categories C and/or 3), and 35 (13.4%) of them were classified as C3. At the time of study enrollment, the mean duration of cART was seven years (SD = 3.7). Forty-five (17%) children
had used mono- or dual therapy before starting cART. At enrollment, 61% of children/adolescents were using cART with protease inhibitors (PI) and 39% were using cART with a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen; 98/260 (37.7%) were on their first regimen, 62/260 (23.8%) on their second regimen, and 100/260 (38.5%) on their third regimen or beyond. 188/203 (92.6%) of the children (caregivers’
information) and 44/57 (77.2%) of the adolescents reported no missed doses of cART in the last three days (100% adherence). 120/203 (57%) of children and 28/57 (49%) of adolescents had plasma viral loads bellow 50 copies/mL at the clinical visit closest to enrollment. The chance of viral suppression did not differ among those who had received mono- or dual therapy prior to cART initiation (OR = 1.0; 95% CI: 0.70 – 1.5). The GNAT2 two proposed outcomes (viral load < 50 copies/mL and no ART missed dose in the last three days) had no statistical association (p = 0.34) for both children and adolescents. Over half of the caregivers (142/260; 54.6%) were HIV-infected (mostly a biological parent), 102/260 (39.2%) were not infected by HIV (“uninfected”), and 16/260 (6.2%) did not know their HIV status. Caregivers living or not living with HIV had similar sociodemographic characteristics, except that HIV-infected caregivers were significantly younger, compared to those who were not living with HIV (p < 0.01), as shown in Table 1. HIV-infected caregivers were more likely to abuse alcohol or other substances than uninfected caregivers (p = 0.02). 252/260 patients (97%) had available pharmacy records.