| Horizontally-acquired HIV infection in Kenyan
and Swazi children |
| Authors: |
M Okinyi, D D Brewer and J J Potterat |
| Source: |
International Journal of STD & AIDS, 2009; 20: 852–857. DOI: 10.1258/ijsa.2009.009204 |
| Topic(s): |
Child health
HIV/AIDS
Siblings
|
| Country: |
Africa
Kenya
Eswatini
|
| Published: |
NOV 2009 |
| Abstract: |
Summary: Despite many reports of HIV-infected African children who have HIV-uninfected mothers, little is known about the
extent and modes of horizontal HIV transmission in African children. We estimated the extent of horizontal HIV transmission in Swazi
children by comparing child and mother HIV statuses in the 2006–2007 Swaziland Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). To identify
correlates of horizontal HIV transmission, we conducted a case-control study of Kenyan children with horizontally acquired HIV
infections and their uninfected siblings. Of 50 HIV-positive Swazi children in the DHS, 11 (weighted percent ¼ 20, 95% confidence
interval 11–33%) had HIV-negative mothers. These 11 children represented 0.6% of all Swazi children aged 2–12 who lived with their
mothers. In the Kenyan study, children with horizontally acquired HIV infections had more kinds of blood exposures than their
uninfected siblings. In particular, punctures related to health care for suspected malaria (phlebotomy, injection and infusion),
injections while hospitalized and dental surgery (especially by informal providers) were more common in infected children. Horizontal
HIV transmission appears to be common in some sub-Saharan African countries, and blood exposures seem to be the most likely
routes of transmission. Rigorous surveillance and investigation of horizontally acquired HIV infection in children are urgently needed,
along with universal public education about risks of specific blood exposures and ways to avoid them.
Keywords: HIV, Africa, iatrogenic disease, matched sibling case-control study |
|