12% of children with HIV develop a triple virologic failure

A study published in the online edition of the journal The Lancet finds that 12% of children with HIV in Europe develop a triple virological failure. The study, led by the Medical Research Council from the United Kingdom with the participation of the researcher Roger Paredes, head of the Molecular Epidemiology research group at IrsiCaixa, notes that antiretroviral drug combinations, which in most adults reach viral load suppression, are less effective in children.

Therefore, in one of eight children, at least one drug of the three major antiretroviral classes (protease inhibitors, reverse transcriptase inhibitors and, within them, nucleoside analogues and non analogues) fail in combating the virus.

The study was carried out with the collaboration of 14 European cohorts, some of them from Spain, and analyzed samples from a total of 1,007 European HIV-positive children aged under 16 who had been perinatally infected with HIV – from mother to child or before the birth.

Findings highlight the challenges of attaining long-term viral suppression in children who will be taking life-long antiretroviral treatment. To attain and sustain virological suppression it is essential to identify early failure of antiretroviral drugs, to support adherence, particularly in adolescents starting treatment after age 13, and to simplify treatment.