"Infants Tend to Die of AIDS More Quickly Than Adults"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Infants Tend to Die of AIDS More Quickly Than Adults"

Washington Post (12/28/89), P. A8

Abstract: A study of 172 children who developed AIDS shows that children who contract HIV infection while still in the womb succumb to AIDS far more quickly than adults who develop the disease. Gwendolyn Scott of the University of Miami School of Medicine heads the team of researchers, which reports on the study in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers say their results indicate treatment should begin early for HIV-infected children. However, early treatment is complicated because between half and 70 percent of children born with antibodies to the virus are not actually infected. It takes up to 15 months for maternal antibodies to disappear, revealing which children carry HIV. The validity of anew test to detect the virus in blood cells has yet to be established, and doctors are wary of treating children who may behealthy with potentially toxic drugs. According to the study, half the children showed symtoms of AIDS within a year, and eightof 10 were ill within two years. Half of the 172 were dead by the age of three.

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