Serotype specific antibody concentration and opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) were evaluated following three doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Groups included HIV+ infants with CD4+ ≥25% initiated on immediate antiretroviral treatment (HIV+/ART+) or ART was deferred until clinically or immunologically indicated (HIV+/ART−). Immune responses were also evaluated in HIV non-infected infants born to HIV-seronegative (M−/I−) or HIV+ mothers (M+/I−). Antibody concentrations were similar between HIV+/ART+ and HIV+/ART− infants. Antibody concentrations were, however, lower in M−/I− compared to M+/I− infants. M−/I− infants, nevertheless, had superior OPA responses compared to HIV+/ART+, who in turn had better OPA responses compared to HIV+/ART− infants.

Background The immunogenicity of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) has not been evaluated in HIV-infected infants following the first and second PCV-doses. We studied antibody kinetics of serotypes included in 7-valent PCV in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected infants prior to and following each of three PCV-doses. Methods HIV-uninfected infants born to HIV-uninfected (HUU) and HIV-infected mothers (HEU); and perinatal HIV-infected children with CD4+ < 25% randomized to initiate antiretroviral treatment (ART) when clinically and/or immunologically indicated (ART−) or immediately (ART+) were enrolled. Vaccination occurred at approximately 7.4, 11.5 and 15.5 weeks of age. Serotype-specific antibody was measured by ELISA following each PCV-dose and opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) to three serotypes following the second and third doses. Results Pre-vaccination, antibody geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) were higher in HUU compared to HIV-exposed groups for most serotypes. GMCs and proportion of infants with antibody ≥0.35 μg/ml were similar in HUU compared to other groups following the second PCV-dose. In all groups, GMCs were greater following the third compared to post-second dose; and a higher proportion within each group had antibody ≥0.35 μg/ml to 6B and 23F. OPA GMTs increased after the third compared to post-second dose for studied-serotypes; as did the proportion with OPA ≥8 to 23F. Conclusion A two-dose primary-series of PCV probably confers similar protection against invasive pneumococcal disease in HIV-infected compared to HUU children. The inferior response to serotypes 6B and 23F, and lower GMCs and OPA GMTs, following two compared to after three PCV-doses may have implications in the prevention of pneumococcal disease in high-burden countries.

A 1% solution of CHX appears to be a safe and tolerable concentration of CHX for consideration in an MTCT prevention trial.

Background Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Staphylococcus aureus are all potentially pathogenic, which frequently colonize the nasopharynx (NP) prior to causing disease. We studied bacterial NP-colonization in 321 HIV-infected and 243 HIV-uninfected children vaccinated with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age. Methods HIV-uninfected infants included those born to HIV-uninfected (HUU) and HIV-infected women (HEU); HIV-infected children with CD4+ lymphocyte ≥25% were randomised to initiate antiretroviral therapy immediately (ART-Immed) or when clinically indicated (ART-Def). Nasopharyngeal swabs for bacterial culture were taken prior to each PCV7 dose (Visits 1–3) and at 20, 39, 47 and 67 weeks of age (Visits 4–7). Swabs were cultured by standard methods and pneumococcal serotyping done by the Quellung method. Results Colonization patterns for pneumococcus, H. influenzae and S. aureus did not differ between HUU and HEU children; and were also generally similar between ART-Def and ART-Immed children. Prevalence of PCV7-serotype colonization was similar between HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children, however, overall pneumococcal and specifically non-vaccine serotype colonization tended to be lower in HIV-infected children. HIV-infected children also had a 44% lower prevalence of S. aureus colonization at Visit-1 (p=0.010); and H. influenzae colonization was also lower among HIV-infected than HIV-uninfected children at Visit-2, Visit-3, Visit-6 and Visit-7. Conclusion Vaccine-serotype colonization is similar in PCV-immunized HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children. We, however, identified a lower prevalence of overall-pneumococcal and H. influenzae colonization in HIV-infected children post-PCV vaccination, the clinical-relevance of which warrants further study.