The Linda Kizazi study: a comparison of morbidity and mortality from birth to 2 years between children who are HIV-unexposed and HIV-exposed, uninfected in the era of universal antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Historically, children who are HIV-exposed, uninfected (CHEU) have been found to have greater morbidity and mortality than children who are HIV-unexposed, uninfected (CHUU). To assess whether this difference persists in the era of universal antiretroviral therapy (ART), we conducted a cohort study to compare the risk of acute diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections (RTI), malaria, hospitalisation, and all-cause mortality between Kenyan CHEU and CHUU from birth to 2 years.

Methods: From December 2018 to March 2020 at Mathare North Health Centre in Nairobi, we recruited pregnant women living with HIV on ART for ≥6 months and pregnant women without HIV from the same community.

Distinct immune profiles in children living with HIV based on timing and duration of suppressive antiretroviral treatment.

Timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains a major challenge in the effort to treat children living with HIV ("CLH") and little is known regarding the dynamics of immune normalization following ART in CLH with varying times to and durations of ART. Here, we leveraged two cohorts of virally-suppressed CLH from Nairobi, Kenya to examine differences in the peripheral immune systems between two cohorts of age-matched children (to control for immune changes with age): one group which initiated ART during early HIV infection and had been on ART for 5-6 years at evaluation (early, long-term treated; "ELT" cohort), and one group which initiated ART later and had been on ART for approximately 9 months at evaluation (delayed, short-term treated; "DST" cohort). We profiled PBMC and purified NK cells from these two cohorts by mass cytometry time-of-flight (CyTOF).

Brief Report: Group-Based Trajectory Modeling to Determine Long-Term HIV Viral Load Trends Among Children With HIV in Kenya.

Background: Identifying determinants of longitudinal HIV viral load (VL) trajectories using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) can inform clinical strategies and mechanisms of nonadherence among children.

Methods: Children under 12 months old who were newly diagnosed with HIV were enrolled in the Optimizing Pediatric HIV therapy cohort (NCT00428116) from 2007 to 2010. Children initiated antiretroviral therapy at enrollment, and VL was assessed every 3 months for 24 months post-antiretroviral therapy and every 6 months thereafter up to 8 years old.

Sexual Violence, Genital Cytokines, and Colposcopy Findings: A Cross-Sectional Study of Women Engaged in Sex Work in Mombasa, Kenya.

Background: Sexual violence (SV) increases human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) susceptibility in a sustained manner. This study evaluated genital cytokines and colposcopy findings in women reporting both recent and more remote SV.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of HIV-1 negative Kenyan women who engage in sex work was performed.

Association between HIV and cytomegalovirus and neurocognitive outcomes among children with HIV.

Objectives: Children with HIV may experience adverse neurocognitive outcomes despite antiretroviral therapy (ART). Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is common in children with HIV. Among children on ART, we examined the influences of early HIV viral load and CMV DNA on neurocognition.