Hematologic abnormalities and associated factors among HIV infected children pre- and post-antiretroviral treatment, North West Ethiopia

There are few studies on the hematologic parameters of HIV-infected individuals in Ethiopia; of these, almost all studies researched adults. Our current study is unique in that it mainly focused on the pediatric population and compared both pre- and post-antiretroviral therapy (ART) children. Inference from this study can be used for other developing countries where the burden of HIV disease is high. The aim of this study was to identify hematologic abnormalities in HIV-infected children before and after initiation of ART. A cross-sectional study was conducted on HIV-infected children from June 1 to August 30, 2015. Data were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20 version. The median age of study subjects was 10 years with an interquartile range (IQR) of (6, 12). Two-thirds (74.3%) of study subjects received ART for >1 year. The median of CD4 count before ART was 490 cells/mm with an IQR of (286, 765); this increased to 663 cells mm with an IQR of (499, 908) after ART. Likewise, the median of hemoglobin before ART was 11.5 mg/dL with an IQR of (9.9, 13), which increased after ART to 13 mg/dL with an IQR of (11.8, 14). The prevalence of anemia was 42.8% before and 18.9% after ART initiation. The median of absolute neutrophil count before ART was 3×10 with an IQR of (2.1, 4.6) and after ART, it became 3×10 with IQR of (1.9, 4.2). Age