Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013 Jun 18;16(1):18555.
doi: 10.7448/IAS.16.1.18555.

The changing epidemiology of the global paediatric HIV epidemic: keeping track of perinatally HIV-infected adolescents

Annette H Sohn  1 , Rohan Hazra
Affiliations
Review

The changing epidemiology of the global paediatric HIV epidemic: keeping track of perinatally HIV-infected adolescents

Annette H Sohn et al. J Int AIDS Soc. .

Abstract

The global paediatric HIV epidemic is shifting into a new phase as children on antiretroviral therapy (ART) move into adolescence and adulthood, and face new challenges of living with HIV. UNAIDS reports that 3.4 million children aged below 15 years and 2 million adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years have HIV. Although the vast majority of children were perinatally infected, older children are combined with behaviourally infected adolescents and youth in global reporting, making it difficult to keep track of their outcomes. Perinatally HIV-infected adolescents (PHIVA) are a highly unique patient sub-population, having been infected before development of their immune systems, been subject to suboptimal ART options and formulations, and now face transition from complete dependence on adult caregivers to becoming their own caregivers. As we are unable to track long-term complications and survival of PHIVA through national and global reporting systems, local and regional cohorts are the main sources for surveillance and research among PHIVA. This global review will utilize those data to highlight the epidemiology of PHIVA infection, treatment challenges and chronic disease risks. Unless mechanisms are created to count and separate out PHIVA outcomes, we will have few opportunities to characterize the negative consequences of life-long HIV infection in order to find ways to prevent them.

Keywords: HIV; adolescent; outcomes; perinatal; surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Brady MT, Oleske JM, Williams PL, Elgie C, Mofenson LM, Dankner WM, et al. Declines in mortality rates and changes in causes of death in HIV-1-infected children during the HAART era. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2010;53(1):86–94. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ferrand RA, Corbett EL, Wood R, Hargrove J, Ndhlovu CE, Cowan FM, et al. AIDS among older children and adolescents in Southern Africa: projecting the time course and magnitude of the epidemic. AIDS. 2009;23(15):2039–46. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Foster C, Judd A, Tookey P, Tudor-Williams G, Dunn D, Shingadia D, et al. Young people in the United Kingdom and Ireland with perinatally acquired HIV: the pediatric legacy for adult services. AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2009;23(3):159–66. - PubMed
    1. Vijayan T, Benin AL, Wagner K, Romano S, Andiman WA. We never thought this would happen: transitioning care of adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV infection from pediatrics to internal medicine. AIDS Care. 2009;21(10):1222–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Santos Cruz ML, Freimanis Hance L, Korelitz J, Aguilar A, Byrne J, Serchuck LK, et al. Characteristics of HIV infected adolescents in Latin America: results from the NISDI pediatric study. J Trop Pediatr. 2011;57(3):165–72. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources