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New guidelines for treatment of HIV-associated opportunistic infections in children published
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There are recommendations for the treatment of 23 diseases in the recently-updated guidelines for the treatment of HIV-associated opportunistic infections in children.
The guidelines were published by NIH and CDC in cooperation with the HIV Medicine Association of the IDSA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The guidelines appear in the latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The authors of the guidelines wrote that successful treatment of HIV with ART is key to preventing and managing opportunistic infections. Effective ART also may be an effective way of controlling immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. The recommendations contain information on diagnosing and managing that condition.
Use of antibiotics to prevent Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in infants may now be avoided among infants that have two negative tests for HIV at two weeks or older and at four weeks or older. The authors of the guidelines cited advances in diagnostic testing and effective prevention of vertical transmission of HIV as reasons for this change.
Recommendations for immunizations in children who have been exposed to, or infected with, HIV are also included in the guidelines. There is information on hepatitis A, human papillomavirus, meningococcal and rotavirus vaccines available.
The guidelines contain a new section on the treatment of malaria in children with HIV.
Discontinuing medications to prevent certain opportunistic infections is recommended in the new guidelines. The authors of the guidelines outlined diagnostic criteria for when and how to discontinue those medications.