AEGiS-FDA: New Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections among HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

New Guidelines for Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections among HIV-Exposed and HIV-Infected Children

Food and Drug Administration - August 31, 2009

New guidelines, published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are available through the AIDSinfo web site to assist health care workers in preventing and treating the secondary infections that can afflict U.S. children exposed to, or infected with, HIV.

The new guidelines, containing recommendations from the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, provide a reference manual for the treatment of secondary infections related to HIV, describe warning signs of potentially hazardous interactions between drugs used to treat HIV and its secondary infections, describe current standards for treating the inflammation accompanying immune system recovery made possible by new anti-HIV drugs, and provide guidance about when to discontinue preventative treatment no longer needed after the immune system has recovered.

Specifically, these pediatric guidelines include:

Emphasis on the importance of effective antiretroviral therapy to improve children’s immune function.…
Information on diagnosing and managing immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome
Information on the management of antiretroviral therapy in children with opportunistic infections, including potential drug-drug interactions
New guidance on use of antibiotic drugs to prevent Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia in infants
Updated immunization recommendations for HIV-exposed and -infected children, including hepatitis A, human papillomavirus, meningococcal, and rotavirus vaccines
A new section outlining treatments for malaria, which may become an opportunistic infection in HIV-infected immigrant children or HIV-infected children who travel to countries with malaria
New recommendations on when to discontinue medication for preventing opportunistic infections

For more information:

Read the full press release
Read the early release of the updated guidelines

Richard Klein
Office of Special Health Issues
Food and Drug Administration

Kimberly Struble
Division of Antiviral Drug Products
Food and Drug Administration

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FD090808

SOURCE: Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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