title: HIV infection in children in developing countries.
abstract: Disease progression in children acquiring HIV infection vertically from their mothers is more rapid in developing countries compared with developed countries. The probability of death by 12 months in sub-Saharan Africa ranges from 0.23 to 0.35, and by 5 years is 0.57-0.68. Data from Europe in the era before highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) yielded probabilities of 0.1 and 0.2, respectively. Confirming the diagnosis can be difficult in resource-limited settings. Existing clinical case definitions are useful epidemiologically, but of low positive-predictive value in individual children. Priorities for research into management issues include nutrition (infant feeding, vitamin A and micronutrient supplementation), prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), and bacterial infections, case management of persistent diarrhoea, diagnosis/prevention/management of tuberculosis in children and prevention of sexual transmission in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Imperial College School of Medicine, St Mary's Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, London, UK. g.tudor-williams@ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tudor-Williams
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018450:Disease Progression; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents