PERINATAL HIV-1 INFECTION NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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PERINATAL HIV-1 INFECTION

The Epidemiology of AIDS: Expression, Occurrence, and Control of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection. Kaslow RA and Francis DP, eds. New York, Oxford University Press, p. 231-41, 1989.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/90668120
Rogers M; Center for Infectious Diseases, Bldg. 6, Rm. 285, CDC, Atlanta,; GA 30333

Abstract: AIDS in children was first described in 1982 by physicians in New York City, New Jersey, and Miami. As of August 1988, 1142 children under 13 yr of age with AIDS had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), accounting for about 2% of all reported AIDS cases. Most (78%) of these children had acquired HIV-1 from their mothers in the perinatal period. Perinatal HIV-1 infection is reviewed under the following headings: epidemiologic characteristics of perinatally acquired AIDS; prevalence; transmission of HIV-1 from mother to infant; clinical course; prevention; and prospects for the future. HIV-1 infection in both children and adults is a chronic, persistent infection characterized by a relatively long latent period (ie, months to years) from establishment of infection to onset of AIDS. Children with perinatally acquired HIV-1 infection usually do not show signs and symptoms of the infection at birth or in the neonatal period. Possible reasons for the delayed onset of symptoms in the infected infants include the possibility that most infants acquire HIV-1 intrapartum rather than in utero or that infection acquired in utero remains latent until several months after birth. Clearly HIV-1 infection in women and children is increasing. CDC predicts a 10-fold increase in the cumulative number of cases of AIDS by 1992. This increase probably will occur despite an all-out prevention drive, because many of the cases will represent the occurrence of disease in persons already infected. At present, preventing perinatal infection requires education and behavioral modification by women and their sex partners. Pediatricians and family physicians can contribute greatly to this effort, because identifying infection in a child often is the first indication of HIV-1 infection in the parents. (60 Refs)
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION AIDS Dementia Complex/EPIDEMIOLOGY Cross-Sectional Studies Female Forecasting Human HIV Infections/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION HIV Seroprevalence HIV-1/*PATHOGENICITY Incidence Infant Infant, Newborn Pregnancy Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/*EPIDEMIOLOGY Prospective Studies Risk Factors United States/EPIDEMIOLOGY MONOGRAPH REVIEW, TUTORIAL REVIEWKWDacquiredimmunodeficiencysyndrome/KWDepidemiology/transmissionaidsdementiacomplex/epidemiologycross-sectionalstudiesfemaleforecastinghumanhivinfections/KWDepidemiology/transmissionhivseroprevalencehiv-1/KWDpathogenicityincidenceinfantinfant,newbornpregnancypregnancycomplications,infectious/KWDepidemiologyprospectivestudiesriskfactorsunitedstates/epidemiologymonographreview,tutorialreview
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Copyright © 1990 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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