Introduction: Mother-to-child HIV transmission is currently around 1% in western countries, due to prevention measures. Antiretroviral drugs do have adverse effects, anaemia and myelosupression caused by AZT being the most observed effects. In the present study, we analyse the prevalence of anaemia and neutropenia in an uninfected children cohort born to HIV-infected women.
Material and methods: We followed up 623 uninfected children belonging to the FIPSE cohort according to standardised protocols. This cohort groups 8 hospitals from Madrid and follows up HIV infected pregnant women and their children. Anaemia and neutropenia were defined according to the ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trails Group) toxicity tables. Children were classified according to prematurity, ethnic origin, birth weight, withdrawal syndrome, in-utero treatment and neonatal prophylaxis. Categorical variables were compared with the chi2 or the Fisher tests.
Results: Anaemia was observed in 188 (30.1%) children during follow-up and 161 (25.8%) had anaemia grade 2 or higher. Prematurity (p < 0.001), low birth weight (p = 0.005) and Highly Active Antiretroviral Treatment (HAART) with Protease Inhibitors (p = 0.016) were associated with higher percentages of anaemia in children. Nadir haemoglobin values were reached by 6 weeks of life and anaemia was transient and disappeared by six months of age. Neutropenia was present in 41.9% (261 children) and 22.7% of the children had moderate-severe neutropenia. Prematurity was again associated with neutropenia (p = 0.01) and low birth weigh was associated only with moderate-severe neutropenia (p = 0.023). African infants had a higher percentage of neutropenia than the rest of the children (50% vs. 44%), although the differences were not significant. The type of in-utero treatment did not appear to influence the neutropenia. Neutropenia was still present in 12.5% of infants at 18 months of age. The type of neonatal prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child transmission (monotherapy, dual therapy or triple therapy) did not influence either cytopenia.
Conclusion: In our series, the proportion of children with anaemia is high: 30.1% Prematurity, low birth weight and HAART with IP were associated with a higher proportion of anaemia, which was transient and had little clinical relevance. The proportion of children with neutropenia was higher (41.9%) and was associated with prematurity, low birth weight and African origin. The type of neonatal prophylaxis does not seem to influence the development of cytopenias. Persistence of neutropenia (without clinical significance) was observed in a small percentage of the children 12.5%, at 18 months of age.