REVIEW   

Minerva Pediatrica 2019 October;71(5):455-60

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4946.16.04731-9

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children

Conghai FAN, Fengchao ZHANG ✉, Chao CHEN

Department of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Children’s Hospital, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China

The pediatric highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has shown enormous progress in recent years but still, a high percentage of children continue to experience treatment failure. The main causes found responsible are the development of drug resistance, inadequate dosing and poor adherence. This review is aimed at exploring the current status of antiretroviral therapy in children with focus on the interaction between disease, drug and patient behavior, all of which are strongly correlated .An overview of HIV viral characteristics and of the available antiretroviral drug classes currently combined to avoid development of resistance has been also discussed.

KEY WORDS: Pediatrics; HIV infections; Highly active antiretroviral therapy