Optimizing research methods to understand HIV-exposed uninfected infant and child morbidity : report of the second HEU infant and child workshop
Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Abstract
The first HIV Exposed Uninfected (HEU) Infant and Child Workshop was held in Vancouver in July
2015, hosted by the Child and Family Research Institute at the British Columbia Children’s Hospital
and University of British Columbia. This event brought together 50 clinicians, epidemiologists, and
basic scientists to review current knowledge of HEU infants, their clinical course, immunologic
differences, and risk for neurodevelopmental and infectious morbidity. This Frontiers in Immunology
Research Topic, “Immune mechanisms underlying the increased morbidity and mortality of HIVexposed
uninfected (HEU) children,” is a product of the first HEU workshop synthesizing the
evidence in the field. It was clear from the first workshop that there is a committed community of
researchers who have identified the need to understand the mechanisms of increased morbidity and
mortality in HEU infants and children, but evidence to intervene and mitigate these risks is lacking.
In high HIV burden countries, all infants and children, irrespective of HIV exposure, are
vulnerable to high rates of infant and child mortality (1). In this context, the essential question
is whether HEU children are any different than HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) children
experiencing similar nutritional, environmental, and social constraints to health. To this end,
particular research methodological principles require reinforcing in future HEU research. It was
these methodological challenges and possible solutions that formed the theme of the second HEU
Infant and Child Workshop attended by 75 HEU researchers and hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal
Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South
Africa. We report on the specific methodological challenges tackled during the workshop and
steps to move forward.
Description
CITATION: Slogrove, A. L., et al. 2016. Optimizing research methods to understand HIV-exposed uninfected infant and child morbidity : report of the second HEU infant and child workshop. Frontiers in Immunology, 7:576, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2016.00576.
The original publication is available at http://journal.frontiersin.org
The original publication is available at http://journal.frontiersin.org
Keywords
HIV-exposed uninfected infant --
Immunity, Children -- Mortality, Children -- Deseases, Immunity in children
Citation
Slogrove, A. L., et al. 2016. Optimizing research methods to understand HIV-exposed uninfected infant and child morbidity : report of the second HEU infant and child workshop. Frontiers in Immunology, 7:576, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2016.00576