Background More perinatally HIV-infected children in Asia are reaching adolescence. Methods We analyzed data from July 1991 to March 2011 reported by 18 clinics in six countries of children age >12 years. Results Of 1,254 adolescents, 33 (2.6%) died, and 52 (4.2%) were lost to follow-up within 2.4-year (3566 person-years) median follow-up period. Of 1,061 adolescents under active follow-up, 485 (46%) were male, median (IQR) age was 14.7 (13.3-16.4) years, 73% had lost a parent(s), 93% attended school, and 62% were aware of their HIV status. At the most recent evaluation, 93% were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART), 71% (N=737/1035) had CD4 >500 cells/mm3 and 86% (N=718/830) had viral load (VL) <400 copies/mL. Current CD4 >200 cells/mm3, no previous WHO stage 3 or 4, and being on a first-line regimen were independently associated with recent VL <400 copies/mL. Current age <15 years, VL <400 copies/ml, CD4 15-24% (vs. <10%) at ART initiation, no previous WHO stage 3 or 4, and ART duration of >1 year were associated with recent CD4 >500 cells/mm3.Primary causes of death after age 12 were opportunistic infections (N=15/33) and other AIDS- or treatment-related conditions (N=9/33). Those at age 12 with CD4 <200 vs. >500 cells/mm3 and those with VL >10,000 vs. <10,000 copies/mL were 17.4 and 4.76 times more likely to die in adolescence, respectively. Conclusion Adolescents in this cohort have been successfully maintained in HIV care. Initiating treatment at earlier stages of disease was associated with immune recovery and virologic suppression during adolescence.

Introduction: The latest revised version of the World Health Organization's dengue classification was released in 2009. A handful of studies have taken initiatives to evaluate the old and revised guidelines to determine early signs and symptoms of severe dengue. This retrospective study aimed to compare the classification of dengue using both the 1997 and 2009 guidelines in a selected cohort of dengue patients from Peninsular Malaysia between 2008 and 2012. Methodology: Adult dengue patients were recruited from tertiary hospitals in two different states, Selangor and Kelantan, in Peninsular Malaysia. Their clinical manifestations were assessed. Results: A total of 281 confirmed dengue patients were enrolled; the mean duration of illness at admission was five days. Of these, 88.6%, 10.7%, and 0.7% were classified according to the 1997 guidelines as having dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS), respectively. When the WHO 2009 guidelines were applied, 17.1%, 78.3%, and 4.6% were classified as dengue without warning signs, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue, respectively. Conclusions: Our data suggests that the revised WHO 2009 guidelines stratify a much larger proportion of patients into a category that requires a higher level of medical and nursing care.

Aims To describe outcome and examine factors associated with mortality among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children in Malaysia after anti-retroviral therapy (ART). Methods Retrospective and prospective data collected through March 2009 from children in four different states in Malaysia enrolled in TREAT Asia’s Pediatric HIV Observational Database were analysed. Results Of 347 children in the cohort, only 278 (80.1%) were commenced on ART. The median CD4 count and median age at baseline prior to ART was 272 cells/μL and 4.2 years (interquartile range (IQR): 1.4, 7.4 years), respectively. The median duration of follow-up was 3.7 years (IQR: 1.8, 6.0) with 32 deaths giving a crude mortality rate of 2.86 per 100 child-years. The mortality rate highest in the first 6 months of ART was 10.62 per 100 child-years and declined to 1.83 per 100 child-years thereafter. On univariate analyses, only baseline median CD4 percentage, weight for age z score, height for age z score and anaemia were significantly associated with mortality. Upon including all four of these predictors into a single multivariate model, only weight for age z score remained statistically significantly predictive of mortality. Conclusions Children commenced on ART had high mortality in the first 6 months especially in those with low CD4 percentage, wasting and anaemia. Poor nutritional status is an important independent predictor of mortality in this study. Besides initiating ART therapy, nutritional support and intervention must receive the utmost attention.

Background The WHO recommends boosted protease inhibitor (bPI)-based highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) after failing non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) treatment. We examined outcomes of this regimen in Asian HIV-infected children. Methods Children from five Asian countries in the TREAT Asia Pediatric HIV Observational Database (TApHOD) with ≥24 weeks of NNRTI-based HAART followed by ≥24 weeks of bPI-based HAART were eligible. Primary outcomes were the proportions with virologic suppression (HIV-RNA <400 copies/ml) and immune recovery (CD4% ≥25% if age <5 years and CD4 count ≥500 cells/mm3 if age ≥5 years) at 48 and 96 weeks. Results Of 3422 children, 153 were eligible; 52% were female. At switch, median age was 10 years, 26% were in WHO stage 4. Median weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) was −1.9 (n=121), CD4% was 12.5% (n=106), CD4 count was 237 (n=112) cells/mm3, and HIV-RNA was 4.6 log10copies/ml (n=61). The most common PI was lopinavir/ritonavir (83%). At 48 weeks, 61% (79/129) had immune recovery, 60% (26/43) had undetectable HIV-RNA and 73% (58/79) had fasting triglycerides ≥130mg/dl. By 96 weeks, 70% (57/82) achieved immune recovery, 65% (17/26) virologic suppression, and hypertriglyceridemia occurred in 66% (33/50). Predictors for virologic suppression at week 48 were longer duration of NNRTI-based HAART (p=0.006), younger age (p=0.007), higher WAZ (p=0.020), and HIV-RNA at switch <10,000 copies/ml (p=0.049). Conclusion In this regional cohort of Asian children on bPI-based second-line HAART, 60% of children tested had immune recovery by one year, and two-thirds had hyperlipidemia, highlighting difficulties in optimizing second-line HAART with limited drug options.

Regular CD4 testing may be unnecessary for virally suppressed children aged 5-15 years with CD4 ≥500 cells/mm3.