The EPIICAL Consortium established a large well-characterized paediatric cohort of children living with HIV who are early treated. They represent a unique model population to investigate strategies to achieve HIV remission/cure.
CARMA Cohort
The CARMA (Child and Adolescent Reservoir Measurements on early suppressive ART) cohort includes 40 European children living with HIV and adolescents treated within 24 months of age with, long-term viral control.
It has been established by the Consortium with the aim to characterise the virological and immunological features associated with a low HIV-1 DNA reservoir with a future potential to select candidates for interventional trials towards an HIV cure.
What have we achieved?
EPIICAL demonstrated that age and viral load at ART initiation are key determinants of reservoir size in long suppressed patients. The impact of early-infant treatment on reservoir size persists after a decade of suppressive therapy.
HIV-1 DNA levels were positively associated with age and VL at ART initiation, baseline CD4%, and Western blot antibody score. (from Foster C, JIPDS 2020).