How doctor error put HIV negative infants under ARVs

By Andrew Munyoki

The future of comprehensive care dispensed to HIV positive patients in Kitui county is likely to be thrown into a spin after it emerged that two children, kept on the HIV management programme, did not even have the virus.

The children, sired by infected parents, have been among the over 1,800 active clients put under comprehensive care at the Mutomo Mission Hospital in Kitui south.

In one case, a two-year-old child who had tested HIV positive after the first Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test done two weeks after birth tested negative when similar tests were carried out on him after six, nine and 10 months.

It is not clear if further PCR tests were done on the child after 10, 16 and 18 months.

A source from the hospital’s comprehensive care centre said the outcome of this final antibody test at 18 months “determines the future of the infant in continued comprehensive care”. 

The child’s mother said she continued to give her son the ARVs on orders from health officials.

In the second case, the child, a five-year-old boy, was kept in the programme since his birth in 2008 and was only discontinued in March this year.

“One year after my child was put under the programme, a pharmacist told me that my son should not be receiving ARVs but did not explain further,” the boy’s mother said.

She did not receive further information and continued to give her child the medication while taking him to the clinic for medical care.

She said her son developed health complications, towards the period he was discontinued from the programme, frequently complaining of chest pains and vomiting in the mornings.

The hospital’s management declined to comment citing doctor-client confidentiality.

The lingering question now is what side effects might these children suffer from after ingesting ARVs for years?

Antiretroviral drugs are known to cause side effects that are often mild, but can sometimes be more serious.

The five most notable side effects are:

  Diarrhoea: Sometimes this happens only within the first few weeks and then clears while in some cases, this side effect lasts for as long as the drug is taken.

  Nausea and vomiting: This becomes a concern when it is too severe, or occurs with other symptoms such as dizziness, thirst, fever, muscle pain, diarrhoea, headache or jaundice.

  Rash: These may be itchy but are usually harmless and short-lived. However, any rash occurring during the first few weeks of treatment should be reported to a doctor immediately, as should any rash accompanied by fever, blistering, facial swelling or aches.

  Lipodystrophy: This involves losing or gaining body fat in disfiguring ways. It can result in sunken cheeks or buttocks, gaining deep fat in the abdomen, between the shoulder blades, or on the breasts.