[HIV infection in childhood]

Abstract

The increasing heterosexual transmission of HIV leads to an increase of vertical HIV-infection from mother to child. In Austria 19 children below 13 years with AIDS are registered, 16 of them had been infected by their mothers (österreichische AIDS-Statistik, January 29, 1993). Clinical manifestations of HIV-infection in infants and children are different from those in adults. In this article we describe the typical signs like severe recurrent bacterial infections, failure to thrive, lymphoid interstitial pneumonia and neurologic symptoms as developmental delay, loss of previous acquired skills and progressive motor abnormalities. The difficulties of the diagnosis of HIV-infection in an infant born to a seropositive mother and problems with the integration of HIV-infected children in kindergarten and school are discussed.