title: Baseline demographic, clinical and immunological profiles of HIV-infected children at the Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric hospital, Cameroon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Approximately 2.5 million children below 15 years are infected with the HIV virus, with 90% in sub-Saharan Africa. The Yaounde Gynaeco-obstetric and Pediatric hospital has been a treatment center for HIV since 2006. The aim of this study was to analyze the baseline demographic, clinical and immunologic characteristics of the children with the HIV infection in this hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a retrospective, cross- sectional and analytic study, carried out between January and April 2011 which included 61 HIV positive children aged 0-15 years. The socio-demographic, clinical and immunologic data were obtained from their medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most (52.5%) of the children studied were above 60 months of age with a mean age of 71 months. Most (57.4%) were females. Mother-to-child transmission was the principal mode of contamination in 88.5% of cases. More than half of their mothers (55.7%) did not receive antiretroviral prophylaxis during pregnancy and labor. Common clinical findings included prolonged fever (44.6%), malnutrition (37.6%), lymphadenopathy (34.4%), respiratory tract infections (34.4%) and diarrhea (24.5%). Diagnosis was confirmed by HIV serology for most of the patients (93.4%). Polymerase chain reaction served as method of diagnosis in only 6.6% of the cases. HIV 1 was the predominant viral type. More than half of the children (52.5%) were seen at an advanced stage of the disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIV screening during pregnancy and prevention of mother-to-child transmission should be reinforced in this context, and fathers of HIV-infected children should be encouraged to go for HIV testing.
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Florence Soh
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Fru
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiabi
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Séraphin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nguefack
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mah
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Takou
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Jean Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Bogne
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lando
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Pierre-Fernand
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Tchokoteu
authors.affiliation: Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital/Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Elie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mbonda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Cameroon; Demographic; HIV; children; clinical presentation; immunological profile