Immune activation in HIV-exposed uninfected Zimbabwean infants (360G-Wellcome-210807_Z_18_Z)
Most children born to HIV-positive mothers do not get infected with HIV because of effective preventive medications. However, children who are exposed to HIV but not infected (HIV-exposed uninfected children) are more likely to be hospitalised or die due to serious infections than children born to HIV-negative mothers (HIV-unexposed children). The reasons for poorer health outcomes are unknown. It is possible that HIV-exposed uninfected children have problems with the immune system (the part of the body that fights infections), leading to more infections. The immune system of HIV-exposed uninfected children may be too overactive but ineffective at doing its job of fighting infections. We call this immune activation. I will investigate this in Zimbabwe. First, I will use laboratory experiments to compare immune activation in HIV-exposed uninfected children and HIV-unexposed children using stored blood samples. Next, I will investigate if immune activation in mothers during pregnancy leads to immune activation in their children soon after birth. Finally, I will investigate if these immune problems in HIV-exposed uninfected babies are associated with more infections in early life. Through this work, I hope to identify immune problems that can be targeted with new treatments to try and reduce deaths in HIV-exposed children.
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