The effect of HIV-exposure on immune responses to expanded programme on immunization vaccines and antigens

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Immunization against vaccine-preventable infections is essential to reducing childhood morbidity and mortality. The immaturity and tolerogenicity of the immune system of infants renders them susceptible to infectious diseases and makes induction of protective immunity via vaccines a challenge. HIV-exposed infants are HIV uninfected and born to HIV-infected mothers and have increased morbidity and mortality of unknown aetiology. We hypothesise that T cells of HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) infants have impaired proliferative ability and cytokine production in response to vaccine antigens than HIV unexposed (HU) infants