title: Epidemiology of pediatric AIDS in Puerto Rico: 1981-1998.
abstract: The objective of this study was to describe the AIDS-defining conditions (ADC) and survival experience of pediatric AIDS cases (< 13 years age) reported in Puerto Rico. A descriptive analysis of the data gathered by the Puerto Rico AIDS Surveillance System was performed. Data for the 377 pediatric AIDS cases reported from January 1981 through June 1998 were reviewed. Survival curves following AIDS diagnosis were estimated using the Kaplan--Meier method and differences between curves were assessed by the Wilcoxon test. The majority (61%) of the cases were diagnosed before 2 years of age, and nearly 94% of them acquired the infection through perinatal transmission. The most common ADC were Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) (23%), wasting syndrome (19.4%), and esophageal candidiasis (19.1%). The overall median survival time during the study period was 53.5 (95% CI: 38.0-106.2) months. Children < 1 year of age had a significantly shorter median survival time compared with older ages (p < 0.05). The survival experience in children diagnosed with PCP, pulmonary candidiasis, cytomegalovirus, and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (LIP) was significantly different (p < 0.05) to those children not diagnosed with these conditions. Although patients diagnosed after 1990 showed a median survival time longer than those diagnosed prior to 1990, the difference did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). The frequency of several ADC and median survival time of Puerto Rican children differed from those reported in the United States. This may reflect differences in diagnostic procedures or reporting practices.
authors.affiliation: University of Puerto Rico, Graduate School of Public Health, San Juan. ros_perez@rcmaca.upr.clu.edu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Perdomo
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Perez-Cardona
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Suarez-Perez
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate