Objective  To describe the status and effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among children with human immunodeficiency virus /acquired immunodificiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Fujian province, and to provide evidences for improving the quality and management of medication for the children.

  Methods  The data on ART treated HIV/AIDS cases aged ≤ 15 years and reported from 2005 through 2015 in Fujian province were extracted from China Information System for HIV/AIDS Prevention and then the information on demographics, physical growth, nutrition status, and ART outcomes of the cases were collected and analyzed.

  Results  Of the 47 children (30 boys and 17 girls) with HIV/AIDS, 95.74% (45/47) were infected through vertical transmission. The age at the time of receiving ART ranged from 0.89 to 14.97 years, with a median of 4.69 years. The average ART treatment duration for all the cases was 30.4 months. At the beginning of ART, the cases showed significantly lower height and weight than those of normal children, with the detection rate of 61.70% (29/47) and 48.57% (17/35) for malnutrition and anemia; while, at the last follow-up examination after ART, the detection rate of malnutrition and anemia decreased to 42.55% (20/47) and 14.28% (5/35) and significantly lower than those before the ART (P = 0.035 and P = 0.019). Among the cases, the count of CD4 positively lymphocytes (CD4⁺T) increased gradually with the increment of ART duration; compared with the baseline values, the CD4⁺T count increased by 50.45%, 55.86%, 57.68%, 75.36%, and 84.09% at 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, and 36-month after the ART, with significant differences (all P < 0.01).

  Conclusion  Antiviral therapy is beneficial to improve the nutrition condition and to promote physical development and immune recovery among the children with HIV/AIDS.