Early Infant HIV Diagnosis (EID) and Entry to HIV Care Cascade: Seven-year Experience in Thailand

BackgroundEarly infant HIV diagnosis (EID) is critical for timely initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in HIV-infected children who are at high risk of mortality. EID using dried blood spot (DBS) was provided by the National AIDS Program (NAP), Thailand from 2007. We report outcomes after 7-years of roll-out.MethodsDBS samples collected from HIV-exposed children were mailed to the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University. HIV-DNA was assessed using real-time DNA-PCR assay. Data of HIV-infected children were linked to the NAP database to ascertain ART and vital status.