Uganda: paediatric AIDS.
Ndugwa CM, Friesen H.
PIP: The occurrence of reported cases of AIDS in children in Uganda, and the most common symptoms are discussed. By May 1988, 359 cases of AIDS in children has been reported. All but 12 were in babies less than 2 years of age, suggesting that maternal transmission, rather than casual contact, had caused the infection. Information was available on HIV status of 224 mothers. 42% of these had AIDS or ARC (AIDS related complex). 85 of 87 mothers whose sera had been tested were positive for HIV. Blood testing is not accurate in children until about 15 months of age, since maternal antibodies persist after birth. The most common symptoms seen in childhood AIDS in Uganda are weight loss, failure to thrive, chronic diarrhea, and repeated, chronic oral thrush (candidiasis). Other indicators are otitis media, generalized dermatitis, tuberculosis, septicemia and meningitis. Less common signs are shingles, Kaposi's sarcoma and Cryptospor meningitis. Some of these clinical findings are common in this area, so it is important to define a working clinical case definition of pediatric AIDS.
PMID: 12281632 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]