Aisha Mehnaz, Yousuf Yahya, Iqbal Soomro, Noor Masqati, Gule Rana, Shanker Lal.
Pediatric HIV/AIDS in Pakistan - Experience of a Tertiary Care Centre.
Pak Paed J Jan ;41(4):249-55.

Objectives: To determine the demographic, clinical, biochemical and immunologic profile and outcome of children admitted at the Pediatric HIV/AIDS treatment center of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. Study Design: Descriptive study. Place & duration of study: HIV/AIDS treatment Centre, Department of Pediatrics, Dow University of Health Sciences/Civil Hospital Karachi. December 2010 to April 2016. Method: This study evaluated 82 children registered at the HIV treatment unit between the study time. Detail information were noted on a predesigned proforma and analyzed on SPSS version17. Results: There were 51 males and 31 females, between one month to 17years of age (Mean age 5.54 + 4.28years). Eight asymptomatic neonates, acquired HIV infection through Parent to Child Transmission (PTCT).All were started on prophylaxis with Nevarapine. Among symptomatic children (N=65) unexplained fever (26.15 %), Hepato- splenomegaly (24.61%) <10 %, weight loss (20.00 %), oral thrush (18.46 %) and cough (15.38%) were the main clinical presentations. PTCT followed by blood transfusion was the most common mode of transmission. Fifty children were started on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), of these twelve expired and nine (10.97%) did not come for follow up. Conclusion and Recommendations: Parent to Child Transmission followed by transfusion of unscreened blood was the most common mode of transmission of HIV. High dropout need to be explored to increase compliance. Regular screening of blood for HIV infection, mandatory counseling of parents and home visiting program need to be incorporated in the management to increase compliance and ensure good outcome.

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