Viral load detection using dried blood spots in a cohort of HIV-1- infected children in uganda: Correlations with clinical and immunological criteria for treatment failure
Costenaro P., Lundin R., Petrara MR., Penazzato M., Massavon W., Kizito S., Nabachwa SM., Musoke MN., Namisi C., Morelli E., Bilardi D., Mazza A., Zanchetta M., Giaquinto C., De Rossi A.
Correlations between clinical/immunological treatment failure and viral load (VL) detected by dried blood spot (DBS) sampling were explored in HIV-1-infected children in Uganda. Of 104 children on combined antiretroviral treatment (cART), 12.5% experienced clinical and/or immunological failure, while 28.8%, 44.2%, and 26.9% had VLs of<1,000, 1,000 to 5,000, and>5,000 copies/ml, respectively. Clinical/immunological failure poorly predicted virological failure. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.