Pediatric AIDS: problems within problems
Article Abstract:
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is one of the 10 leading causes of death among children and is likely to be among the top 5 within a few years, even though cases of pediatric AIDS are underreported due to too-strict criteria for diagnosis. Proper treatment of pediatric AIDS entails interaction among children's families, physicians, health care workers, and local, state, and national health institutions, yet many of these individuals and groups are not fully aware of the problems of pediatric AIDS. A minireview addresses these concerns, including epidemiology and diagnosis of pediatric AIDS, clinical and laboratory differences between adult and pediatric AIDS, and current treatments available for these children. The situation is summed up by a discussion of the impediments to proper treatment. A particularly grievous complicating factor, which is not present with other childhood diseases, is that children with AIDS are most frequently born to families that have become fragmented due to drug abuse or parental death due to AIDS, and thus are missing the family support which most other sick children have. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journal of Infectious Diseases
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0022-1899
Year: 1990
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Markers and determinants of diseaseprogression in children with HIV infection
Article Abstract:
HIV-infected children may have clinical, virologic, and immunologic characteristics that account for their varying patterns of disease progression. Approximately 20% of infants and children who contracted HIV from their mothers will have rapid disease progression. Children who develop AIDS manifestations within the first year of life, particularly encephalopathy or Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, have poorer prognoses than other HIV-infected children. Children who contract HIV during the fetal period may have more rapid disease progression than children infected during birth. High blood levels of HIV and strains of HIV that cause infected lymphocytes to clump together may be markers of rapid disease progression. High blood levels of free p24 or immune-complex dissociated p24 and low levels of p24 antibodies may be a viral marker associated with a poor prognosis. The foremost immunological marker of increased disease activity is low age-adjusted CD4 counts.
Publication Name: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology
Subject: Health
ISSN: 1077-9450
Year: 1995
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Markers and determinants of disease progression in children with HIV infection
Article Abstract:
HIV-infected children may have clinical, virologic, and immunologic characteristics that account for their varying patterns of disease progression. Approximately 20% of infants and children who contracted HIV from their mothers will have rapid disease progression. Children who develop AIDS manifestations within the first year of life, particularly encephalopathy or Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, have poorer prognoses than other HIV-infected children. Children who contract HIV during the fetal period may have more rapid disease progression than children infected during birth. High blood levels of HIV and strains of HIV that cause infected lymphocytes to clump together may be markers of rapid disease progression. High blood levels of free p24 or immune-complex dissociated p24 and low levels of p24 antibodies may be a viral marker associated with a poor prognosis. The foremost immunological marker of increased disease activity is low age-adjusted CD4 counts.
Publication Name: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology
Subject: Health
ISSN: 1077-9450
Year: 1995
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