title: Improvement is needed in the documentation and HIV testing of children of HIV-positive women.
abstract: We assessed our unit's documentation of the HIV status of 146 identifiable existing children of 146 women audited, out of our total cohort of 329 HIV-positive women. For 23 women (16%) there was no documentation of the presence or absence of children. For 81 children of 43 (29%) women the HIV status was unknown. Of these children, at least eight (5.5%) reside in the UK and could be accessed for testing. It is essential that documentation and testing of children of HIV-positive women takes place to prevent potentially fatal late-stage presentations of AIDS and onward transmission of HIV as young people become sexually active.
authors.affiliation: Brownlee Centre for Infectious Diseases, Gartnaval General Hospital, Glasgow, UK. natasha.mcdonald@nhs.net
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Astill
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nandwani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: MacConnachie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008485:Medical Audit; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D055815:Young Adult