Clinical manifestations of HIV infection in children at Enugu, Nigeria

Three-hundred-and-fifty-eight (358) pediatric patients below 16 years of age were screened for suspected human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection between October 1989 and September 1996. Eighty-three (23 per cent) were confirmed positive. However, adequate clinical data were obtained retrospectively in only 63 patients. Twenty-three (37 per cent) of the patients presented with features corresponding to WHO case definition of Paediatric Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Africa. Vertical mode of infection was documented in 13 (30 per cent) of them while 30 (68 per cent) were infected through blood transfusion. The main clinical features at presentation were generalised lymphadenopathy (59 per cent), persistent or recurrent fever (51 per cent), progressive weight loss or poor weight gain (51 per cent), chronic diarrhoea (38 per cent), various skin manifestations (37 per cent), persistent cough (32 per cent), and oral candidiasis (19 per cent). Six patients died during the initial admission, while majority were lost to follow-up.