HIGH-FREQUENCY failure of combination antiretroviral therapy in paediatric HIV infection is associated with unmet maternal needs causing maternal NON-ADHERENCE.

Background: Early combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) reduces the size of the viral reservoir in paediatric and adult HIV infection. Very early-treated children may have higher cure/remission potential.

Methods: (IU)-infected infants in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, whose treatment adhered strictly to national guidelines, 76 infants diagnosed via point-of-care (PoC) testing initiated cART at a median of 26 h (IQR 18-38) and 75 infants diagnosed via standard-of-care (SoC) laboratory-based testing initiated cART at 10 days (IQR 8-13). We analysed mortality, time to suppression of viraemia, and maintenance of aviraemia over the first 2 years of life.