A number of innovative approaches to treating children were presented at last week’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2026) in Denver, US. Several were based on the fact that infants have good prospects for long-term viral suppression without antiretroviral therapy (ART). Failing that, children and adolescents, who may have particular problems with adherence to daily pills, are prime candidates for long-acting injectable formulations.
Globally, 1.4 million children under 14 have HIV, with 130,000 newly infected every year. Of them, only 57% are on ART and 46% virally suppressed.
Viral control off ART in early-treated children
Dr Gabriela Cromhout of the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa presented a continuation of a series of studies of a cohort of children given ART…