Despite 85 percent being on antiretrovirals (ARV) and having undetectable viral loads, young adults who were born with HIV are experiencing lifelong complications such as higher rates of hospital admissions, comorbidities and lipodystrophy, according to a study by St. Mary’s Hospital in London and reported by aidsmap. For the study, researchers examined the health outcomes of 58 HIV-positive young people who visited the 900 Clinic between 2006 and 2011. Their finding showed that a fifth of patients had a CD4 cell count below 200, that a few of those with undetectable viral loads had failed to fully restore immune functionality, and that at the last follow-up, a quarter of the patients had chosen to discontinue ARV treatment despite support and intervention. In addition, a quarter had been admitted to the hospital for drug overdoses, opportunistic infections, stroke and osteocronis (loss of blood supply to the bones), and one in eight also had severe lipodystrophy.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.