Psychiatric perspective of pediatric human immunodeficiency virus infection.
BACKGROUND
Infection due to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has become a chronic disease of childhood, with increasing rates among adolescents and longer survival of those infected. This illness and its victims present a continuing challenge to the medical community.


METHODS
We used computerized literature searches (MEDLINE and AIDSline) to identify research and review papers from medical, psychiatric, and psychology journals; we obtained statistics directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National AIDS Clearinghouse.


RESULTS
This overview of the topic includes epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, psychiatric and neuropsychiatric manifestations, intervention, and the impact on families, caretakers, and health care workers.


CONCLUSIONS
To psychiatrists, this disease presents the epitome of the biopsychosocial model, encompassing the biology of a viral disease with psychiatric manifestations, complicated by the societal place in which it has become entrenched.
Stolar
A
A
Department of Psychiatry, Suncoast Medical Clinic, St. Petersburg, Fla. 33701, USA.
Fernandez
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D005192:Family Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D011613:Psychotherapy