Multiple children achieve HIV remission after pause in treatment
Newsy
A study summarized the experiences of six children living with HIV, and found that four of them experienced remission during the trial.
In what has been a remarkable step forward in the treatment of HIV, doctors have found that multiple children living with HIV who were being treated under an anti-retroviral medication protocol were able to achieve official remission status during a pause in their treatment.
Data presented at the 2024 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Denver, Colorado showed that 4 of 6 children were shown to have an absence of replication of the virus in their bodies for at least 48 weeks once they went off anti-retroviral treatment (ART). One of those children experienced remission for 80 weeks, the study found. That child's HIV viral load was then found to have rebounded to a detectable level. Three other children remained in remission for 48, 52 and 64 weeks, respectively, data showed.
ART medications have the goal of lowering a patient's viral load to a level that is not detectable, and therefore not transmissible.
Two children analyzed in the study did not experience remission, and their viral load became detectable within three to eight weeks after they were taken off their ART protocol.
Two children who saw their HIV return between 8 and 80 weeks later had mild acute retroviral syndrome, experiencing symptoms that included headache, fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, tonsillitis, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
