Research leads to simplified dosage of HIV medicine for children

Children living with HIV can now benefit from an adapted, simpler combination therapy. In combination therapy, two or three medicines are used simultaneously to inhibit HIV. One of those agents is dolutegravir. Thanks to research at Radboud University Medical Center, it is now clear that the use of one, widely available, pill of dolutegravir in children yields equally good treatment results as a combination of several, less readily available pills of that drug. Especially in countries where the number of infections is high and good care is less accessible, this makes it easier to treat children. These results, published today in the scientific journal The Lancet HIV, are included in the World Health Organization (WHO) treatment guidelines.