Abstract
BACKGROUND: Increased risk of infectious morbidity and hospitalization has been reported during infancy among children HIV-exposed uninfected (CHEU) compared to children HIV-unexposed uninfected (CHUU). However, data on risks beyond infancy are limited. METHODS: We enrolled pregnant women with and without HIV from a primary healthcare facility in a lower income area in Cape Town, South Africa (2017-2018). We tracked their children's HIV test results and hospitalizations using routine electronic healthcare data. We previously reported increased rates of infectious-cause hospitalization among CHEU in the first year of life, and now extend the analysis to cover the period from age 1 to less than 5 years. Using random-effects Poisson regression, we calculated adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) for infectious-cause hospitalization among CHEU vs. CHUU, clustered by infant and adjusted for child sex and vaccination status, maternal age and education, and housing type. RESULTS: Among 446 CHEU and 455 CHUU, 147 admissions occurred from age 1 to less than 5 years; with 59% ( n = 87) due to infections. All-cause hospitalization occurred in 9.2% of CHEU and 10.5% of CHUU; infectious-cause hospitalization occurred in 6.5% of CHEU and 7.3% of CHUU with crude incidence rates of 2.4 per 100 child-years for both groups [IRR = 1.0; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.6-1.6]. Adjusted analyses showed no evidence of increased hospitalization among CHEU (aIRR = 0.71; 95% CI 0.36-1.41). CONCLUSION: Elevated risk of infectious-cause hospitalization among CHEU did not persist beyond the first year of life. These findings highlight infancy as a key window for targeted interventions, while providing reassurance regarding longer term infectious morbidity risk.