Objective: To determine the safety and immunogenicity of childhood vaccines in children with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection.
Design: Nonrandomized, prospective cohort study; 12-month follow-up period.
Setting: Obstetric wards and outpatient pediatric clinics at two large hospitals in Kinshasa, Zaire.
Patients: A total of 8108 pregnant women were screened for HIV-1 antibodies. The 474 children born to 466 seropositive women identified during screening and the 616 children born to 606 seronegative, age- and parity-matched women were vaccinated.
Intervention: The following vaccines were administered at the stated ages: bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine (2 days); trivalent oral Sabin poliomyelitis vaccine (2 days and 6, 10, and 14 weeks); and adsorbed diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine (6, 10, and 14 weeks).
Measurements and main results: Protective antibody titers to tetanus and poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3 were achieved in 95% of all children. Among children with HIV-1 infection, 70.8% had protective antibody titers to diphtheria compared with 98.5% of uninfected children (p < 0.05). Geometric mean antibody titers to diphtheria and poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3 were significantly lower in children with HIV-1 infection than in uninfected children. Vaccine-associated side effects were similarly low in all children.
Conclusions: The low incidence of side effects and the high proportion of children with HIV-1 infection who achieved protective postimmunization antibody titers support the continuing use of BCG, DTP, and oral polio vaccines in childhood immunization programs in HIV-1 endemic areas.