White Blood Cell Counts Normalize In Future If HIV Children Are Treated Before 10 Years

Antiretroviral Therapy or ART needs to be initiated in children infected by HIV before they reach the age of 10 years. This has found to raise the CD4 count in their blood to almost normal levels later in life. A research by the University College London UK led by Joanna Lewis studied the effects of ART in HIV positive children in Zimbabwe and Kenya. It was found that in three quarters of the children the CD4 count initially increased rapidly and then stabilized to reach almost 80% of that in normal healthy children. But the results were found to be more positive in children who started treatment by 5 years of age. It is presumed that children who were HIV+ but received no treatment till 10 years would never be able to gain normal CD4 count. ART needs to be initiated regardless of CD4 count as early as possible for complete immune reconstitution.