Nutrition
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Multicenter Study
Impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy on nutritional and immunologic status in HIV-infected children in the low-income country of Ethiopia.
HIV/AIDS and malnutrition combine to undermine the immunity of individuals and are inextricably interrelated. Although the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on growth in HIV-infected children is well known, the influence of prior nutritional and immunologic status on the response to HAART is not well documented. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of HAART on nutritional and immunological status in HIV-infected children in the low-income country of Ethiopia. ⋯ Despite the apparent growth response in HIV-infected children after initiation of HAART, moderate and severe underweight are both independent predictors of a positive shift. The latter suggests that children on HAART require nutritional supplementation, especially during the early initiation of HAART.