Prevalence of HIV-1 infection and symptomatology of AIDS in severely malnourished children in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Article Abstract:

Many children in the world with severe forms of malnutrition may have AIDS. However, AIDS is often not diagnosed because the symptoms of childhood AIDS are similar to the symptoms of malnutrition. In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 200 children with severe malnutrition were tested for infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1, the causative agent of AIDS) during a five-month period in 1988. Blood samples were tested for the presence of antibodies to the virus, an indication of infection. The incidence of infection in these children was compared with that of children who were not malnourished (controls). Over 25 percent of the children who were malnourished were infected with the AIDS virus, compared with 1.5 percent of the control group. It is difficult to determine if infants are really infected with the virus or if they just have viral antibodies that were acquired from their mothers. However, in this study, the percentage of children with HIV was the same among those younger and older than 18 months of age (when antibodies from the mother are no longer present in the child). Differences in HIV prevalence were observed in the various types of severe malnutrition. A greater percentage of children with marasmus (38.2 percent) were infected with HIV compared with those who had marasmic-kwashiorkor (12.3 percent) or kwashiorkor (12.2 percent). (Marasmus occurs with severe caloric deficiency due to acute illness, such as diarrhea. Kwashiorkor is severe protein deficiency.) These findings indicate that it is important to determine if malnourished children, especially those with marasmus, are infected with HIV. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Diagnosis, Complications and side effects, Demographic aspects, Malnutrition in children, Child malnutrition, AIDS (Disease) in children, Pediatric AIDS (Disease), Kwashiorkor, Protein-energy malnutrition

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Predictive markers for mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Article Abstract:

Pregnant women with CD4 counts that are less than 20% of the total white blood cell count and elevated beta-2 microglobulin (B2M) levels appear to be more likely to transmit HIV to their baby. Researchers tested 2,816 Tanzanian women who gave birth at a hospital and found that 12% were HIV-positive. They took blood samples from 138 HIV-positive women and 117 HIV-negative women and measured the percentage of CD4 cells, B2M levels and viral protein concentrations. They also tested the babies for HIV. Thirty of the HIV-positive women transmitted the virus to their baby. Women with CD4 percentages less than 20 and B2M concentrations greater than 2 milligrams per liter were more likely to transmit the virus to their baby. In fact, more than half did so, compared to only 10% of those whose CD4 percentages were greater and B2M concentrations lower. B2M is a protein on the surface of white blood cells that is secreted into the bloodstream when the cells are damaged.

Measurement, Risk factors, Disease transmission, Pregnancy, HIV infection in pregnancy, CD4 lymphocytes

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Monitoring of HIV-1 infection prevalence and trends in the general population using pregnant women as a sentinel population: 9 years experience from the Kagera region of Tanzania

Article Abstract:

Pregnant women attending a prenatal clinic can be tested for HIV to estimate the impact of HIV infection on the entire population. In the town of Bukoba, Tanzania, the percentage of pregnant women infected with HIV dropped from 22% in 1990 to 14% in 1996. This mirrored a drop in the infection rate among the town's women.

Health aspects, Statistical Data Included, Testing, Statistics, HIV infection, Pregnant women

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