In this study delayed disclosure of diagnosis, partial/no preventive measures, drug resistance among asymptomatic women under prophylaxis and MTCT in low viremic mothers raise concerns. The expansion of subtype C infection corroborates surveillance of HIV-1 diversity in this region.

The spread of HIV-1 infection among women of childbearing age has led to increasing numbers of children at risk of vertical transmission. This study aimed to assess child outcomes among HIV-positive (n=19) and AIDS (n=22) mothers from Central West Brazil. CD4(+) T-cell counts (FACScount, BD) and viral loads (HIV-1 RT-PCR, Amplicor HIV-1 Monitor Roche) were assessed at delivery and during the first 6 months of life. Heteroduplex mobility assay identified env and gag HIV-1 subtypes. Frequencies and medians were calculated. HIV-positive and AIDS mothers did not differ with regard to age, antiretroviral prophylaxis, parity and viral load. AIDS mothers had lower CD4(+) T-cell counts. One vertical transmission and a neonatal death were observed. Gestational age, gender and oral zidovudine prophylaxis were similar regardless of maternal clinical status. Infants born to AIDS mothers had lower birthweight and shorter time to seroreversion. Eight infants were lost to follow-up, and two were breastfed due to delayed maternal diagnosis. HIV-1 B(env)/B(gag) subtype were 75.6%; discordant B(env)/F(gag) were 12.2%. Exposed uninfected infants born to AIDS mothers with lower CD4(+) T-cell counts seroreverted earlier than infants born to asymptomatic HIV-positive mothers. It is possible that maternal immunological status may impact on the time to seroreversion.

Objetivos: Estimar a taxa de transmissão vertical do HIV e os fatores de risco materno-fetais em crianças nascidas em 2015 em seguimento durante os anos de 2015 a 2017 no maior centro de referência para tratamento para HIV do estado de Goiás. Métodos: Estudo de coorte retrospectivo de 111 crianças expostas ao HIV nascidas em 2015 de mães HIV positivas. Resultados: Entre as mães, 85 (92,4%) utilizaram TARV durante a gestação. Das 92 crianças que mantiveram seguimento, 4 (4,34%) adquiriram infecção perinatal pelo HIV. 81 (88%) recém-nascidos fizeram uso de profilaxia antirretroviral. Um fator protetor importante de transmissão vertical do HIV foi a profilaxia antirretroviral do RN (OR = 0,02; IC 95%: 0,00-0,56; p = 0,04). Outros fatores investigados, como uso de TARV durante a gestação, não foram estatisticamente significativas para risco. Conclusão: A taxa de transmissão vertical do HIV ainda se encontra elevada no estado de Goiás e os desafios para sua prevenção consistem na perda de seguimento e falhas nas medidas estratégicas.

Antiretroviral drug-resistance mutations compromise the successful treatment of children and adolescents infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We describe the clinical, virological, and immunological follow-up of a cohort of children and adolescents perinatally infected with HIV-1 treated at Hospital Estadual de Doenças Tropicais Dr. Anuar Auad – HDT, in Central Brazil, after therapeutic failure related to drug resistance mutations.We analyzed the results of the genotypic test (protease codons 1–99 and reverse transcriptase codons 1–325) performed from 2003 to 2015. The ARV susceptibility profile was analyzed according to Stanford HIV drug resistance database. A total of 65 patients (median age of 10 years; range, 18 m–18 y) with therapeutic failure (after a median of 55 months of follow up; range, 9 m–13 y) and plasma levels of HIV-1 RNA greater than 1,000 copies/mL which were included and demonstrated mutations in: nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), 98.5%; non nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), 75.4%; and protease inhibitors (PI), 44.6%. The most frequent NRTI mutations were found in codon T215 (83.1%) with a predominance of T215Y (56.9%), followed by M184V (69.3%). In the NNRTI class, mutations K103N (36.9%) and 190A (23.1%) were predominant, and, in the protease, mutations 54VL (35.4%) and 82ASTL (32.3%) were found in approximately the same proportion, with a predominance of the M54V mutation. These results demonstrate the high levels of resistance to different classes of antiretrovirals in HIV-infected children and adolescents and the importance of genotypic resistance tests in this population.KEY WORDS: HIV; drug resistance; genotypes; child; adolescent.

Introduction: Among HIV-1-infected patients, CD4 + T cell counts are well-established markers of cell-mediated immunity. Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin tests can be used to evaluate in vivo cell-mediated immunity to common antigens. Methods: DTH responses to tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD), sporotrichin, trichophytin, candidin and streptokinase/streptodornase antigens were assessed. Thirty-six HIV-1-infected children/adolescents and 56 age-and sex-matched HIV-1/ HIV-2-seronegative participants were tested. All participants had a BCG scar. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate significant differences between groups (p<0.05). Results: The main characteristics of the HIV-1 patients were as follows: median age 8.1 years; 20/36 were males; 35 were vertical transmission cases; 34 were AIDS cases under antiretroviral therapy; median viral load = 3.04 log10 copies/ml; median CD4 + T cell count = 701 cells/µl. A total of 25% (9/36) and 87.5% (49/56) of HIV-1-infected and healthy participants, respectively, displayed DTH reactivity to at least one antigen (p<0.001). Among HIV-1-infected participants, reactivity to candidin predominated (8/36, 22.2%), while PPD positivity prevailed among healthy participants (40/56, 71.4%). PPD reactivity in the HIV-1-positive group was 8.3% (p<0.01). The median PPD induration was 2.5mm (range: 2-5mm) in the HIV-1 group and 6.0 mm among healthy participants (range: 3-15mm). There was no correlation between PPD positivity and age. No correlation between CD4 + T cell counts and DTH reactivity was observed among HIV-1-infected patients. Conclusions: DTH skin test responses, including PPD reactivity, were significantly lower among HIV-1-infected participants compared to healthy controls, which likely reflects advanced disease and T cell depletion.