Correlates of spontaneous viral control among long-term survivors of perinatal HIV-1 infection expressing human leukocyte antigen-B57.

Objective: We sought to identify immunologic and virologic correlates of spontaneous viral control among long-term survivors of perinatal HIV infection expressing the protective human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B57 allele.

Design: The frequency, epitope specificity, and functional attributes of HIV-specific T cells and sequence variation within B57-restricted epitopes were compared between 'spontaneous controllers' who maintained normal CD4 percentages and viral loads less than 3000 copies/ml without antiretroviral therapy, and 'treated progressors' who had initiated HAART.

Methods: Recognition of HIV optimal epitopes was assessed by interferon gamma (IFNgamma) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot.

Bacille Calmette-Guérin lymphadenitis and immune reconstitution syndrome in HIV-infected children on antiretroviral therapy in Jamaica.

The immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is a recognized complication associated with opportunistic infections occurring in HIV-infected individuals after the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We report on three HIV-infected infants with rapid progressor HIV disease who present with IRIS due to the BCG vaccine and occurring 3-6 weeks after initiation of HAART

HIV-related mortality in Jamaican children.

Objective: Paediatric HIV is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. We describe HIV-related mortality in a cohort of HIV-infected Jamaican children and identified factors which influenced survival.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted for the period March 2003 - December 2005 at Cornwall Regional Hospital, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Absence of opportunistic parasitic infestations in children living with HIV/AIDS in children's homes in Jamaica: pilot investigations.

Background: Many children living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries are infected with intestinal parasites. These infections add unnecessary morbidity to children already suffering the clinical insult of living with HIV/AIDS.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and potential risk factors for intestinal parasitic infections in HIV-infected children living in two institutions in Jamaica.

Renal manifestations in HIV-infected Jamaican children.

Background: Documentation regarding the renal complications of paediatric HIV infection from developing countries is scarce. In the era prior to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), HIV-infected children in Jamaica who developed HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) progressed to end stage renal disease (ESRD) and death within a few months of diagnosis. With increased public access to antiretroviral therapy since 2002 and subsequent survival, renal complications are increasingly recognized among the surviving cohort of infected children.