Background
Antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiatives have now been established in many sub-Saharan African countries showing early benefits. To date, few results are available concerning long-term clinical outcomes in these treatment programs.
Methods
Response to ART is described in the first HIV–1C infected adults enrolled in the Botswana ART program in 2002. Data analysis was conducted on available longitudinal data up to April 1st, 2007.
Results
633 severely immunodeficient patients with a median CD4+ cell count of 67 cells/mm3 were initiated on NNRTI-based combination ART and followed for a median of 41.9 months. The median CD4+ increases were 169 cells/mm3, 302 cells/mm3, and 337 cells/mm3 at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. The percentages of patients with a viral load of less than 400 copies/mL at 1, 3, and 5 years were 91.3%, 90.1%, and 98.3%, respectively. 75% of patients did not miss a single, or missed only one, monthly ART pick-up per year with a mean pick-up rate of 92.5%. The Kaplan-Meier survival estimates (95% CI) at 1, 3, and 5 years were 82.7% (81.2%, 84.3%), 79.3% (77.6%, 81.0%), and 79.0% (77.3%, 80.7%), respectively. At six months, the risk of treatment modification for anemia was 6.94% (5.9%, 8.0%) for cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions, 1.3% (0.8%, 1.7%), and 1.1% (0.7%, 1.6%) for hepatotoxicity.
Conclusions
This initial group of adults on ART in Botswana had excellent sustained immunologic, virologic, and clinical outcomes for up to five years of follow-up with low mortality among those surviving into the second year of antiretroviral treatment.
