Factors associated with conversion of long-term non-progressors to progressors: a prospective study of HIV perinatally infected paediatric survivors.

Background & Objectives: Survival pattern among children infected with the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) follows a bimodel distribution. Some children survive beyond 9 years age and are known as long term survivors (LTS) while others had a more rapid course to death during the first few years of life. In the LTS group of children, two sub-populations have emerged, the long term non-progressors (LTNP) who have remained asymptomatic over a period of years and those who have survived despite clinical and laboratory evidence of disease progression, the long term progressors (LTP).