Infant mortality, 1,800,000 African children affected by HIV: the most affected region is the sub-Saharan one which alone has 90% of global HIV-positive children

ROMA – Mortality rates are still high in Africa among newborns infected with HIV despite rapid diagnosis of the infection and the availability of antiretroviral therapies. This is what emerges from two new studies conducted by EPIICAL international research consortium led by Penta Foundation with the scientific coordination ofBambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital. This research led to the discovery of two proteins in the blood that predict the risk of death. Since 2015, the researchers of the EPIICAL consortium, composed of the major HIV Centers in Europe, Africa and the USA, have been carrying out scientific and clinical activities for the control of the infection in pediatric age, especially in disadvantaged countries where today the highest number of children infected by the virus.

Infant mortality is 10%, in Europe 1% In the clinical study published in the Lancet and Clinical Medicine journal, coordinated by researchers from the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid, 215 HIV-infected newborns in South Africa, Mozambique and Mali were involved. These children began antiretroviral therapy within the first six months of life and within three months of diagnosis. Despite the availability of drugs and the early start of treatment, a mortality rate of 10% was found within the first year of treatment (in Europe it is less than 1%); of 12% within the second year and stable at 12% even after 3 years.

The role of adverse social conditions. Furthermore, only 42% of newborns enrolled in the research had good control of the infection for at least one year. The main mortality risk factors identified in this study are the high viral load at the start of therapy and the adverse social conditions of the families which influence correct adherence to the therapeutic plan.

The basis for laboratory study. Research on neonatal mortality from HIV was the basis for the laboratory study, just published in the scientific journal Nature Scientific Reportbrought to Rome byBambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital with the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Starting from the blood samples of the African children enrolled in the previous study, the researchers investigated the presence of indicators of the risk of death. The research team analyzed the plasma of a group of children with perinatally acquired HIV infection who died, of a group of survivors and of a control group composed of healthy children not exposed to HIV. From the comparison of the data it emerged that the presence of high levels of IL-6 and CXCL11 proteins in the blood predicts mortality.

HIV in childhood in Africa affects 1 million 800 thousand children. According to thelatest UNAIDS reportthere are approximately 1,800,000 African children aged 0 to 14 affected by HIV. The most affected region is sub-Saharan Africa which, alone, accounts for 90% of HIV-positive children worldwide. Prevention projects contribute to reducing the incidence of new pediatric infections which, however, number over 100,000 per year.

In Italy the incidence is very low. In Italy, thanks to programs for the prevention of vertical transmission (from mother to child), the incidence of pediatric HIV is extremely low. According to data from AIDS Operations Center of the Istituto Superiore di Sanitàfewer than 10 cases of new pediatric infections were recorded in 2021. Al Baby Jesusa national reference center for the treatment of children with HIV, approximately 80 – 100 pediatric patients are followed every year. Most of these children were infected by vertical transmission and receive antiretroviral therapy which allows them to maintain a good quality of life and a low viral load.

What is the EPIICAL International Research Consortium. Born in 2015, it involves 27 academic partners from Africa, Europe and the USA, among the most important in the world in the field of pediatric HIV research. The consortium, financed by ViiV Healthcareis led by Penta Foundation with the scientific coordination ofBambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital. EPIICAL carries out clinical and research activities for the development of therapeutic strategies that lead to disease control without using currently available antiretroviral drugs. As part of these activities, testing of the first pediatric therapeutic vaccine against HIV developed by Bambino Gesù in collaboration with the Karolinska Instituet in Stockholm.

HIV E AIDS. HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is the name of the virus that attacks various types of cells in the body, particularly those of the immune system. After contact with the virus, the production of antibodies against HIV begins and the person becomes HIV-positive. If the infection is not treated, over time the full-blown disease or AIDS – acquired immunodeficiency syndrome develops.