The within-host fitness of HIV-1 increases with age in ART-naive HIV-1 subtype C infected children.

ABSTRACT: As the immune system develops with age, children combat infections better. HIV-1, however, targets an activated immune system, potentially rendering children increasingly permissive to HIV-1 infection as they grow. How HIV-1 fitness changes with age in children is unknown. Here, we estimated the within-host basic reproductive ratio, R₀, a marker of viral fitness, in HIV-1 subtype C-infected children in India, aged between 84 days and 17 years. We measured serial viral load and CD4 T cell counts in 171 children who initiated first-line ART. For 25 children, regular and frequent measurements provided adequate data points for analysis using a mathematical model of viral dynamics to estimate R₀. For the rest, we used CD4 counts for approximate estimation of R₀.

SUBMITTER: Nagaraja P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7862260 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature