Do children infected with HIV receiving HAART need to be revaccinated?

Abstract

No official recommendations have been made on whether children infected with HIV on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) should be revaccinated. We reviewed published work to establish whether these children have protective immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases and to assess short-term and long-term immune responses to vaccination of children given HAART. In general, children on HAART had low levels of immunity to vaccines given before treatment. Most children on HAART, however, responded to revaccination, although immune reconstitution was not sufficient to ensure long-term immunity for some children. These results suggest that children on HAART would benefit from revaccination, but levels of protective immunity might need to be monitored and some children might need additional vaccine doses to maintain protective immunity. Vaccination policies and strategies for children infected with HIV on HAART should be developed in regions of high HIV prevalence to ensure adequate individual and population immunity.