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

Abstract

High rates of virological suppression were reported among HIV-1-infected children of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) up to 5 to 6 years after receiving combined antiretroviral treatment (cART) (1). In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended viral load (VL) monitoring as the preferred approach to detecting treatment failure (TF) among HIV-1-infected children. High costs, a lack of adequate facilities, and inappropriate handling of specimens still limit the implementation of VL monitoring in LMIC, leading to delays in detecting treatment failure when immunological and/or clinical criteria are used instead.