Profile of Children with HIV in an Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Clinic of Western Nepal

Abstract

Introduction: HIV in children is a public health problem in a developing country like Nepal. The aim of the study was to determine the clinical, nutritional and immunological profile of HIV +ve children enrolled in the ART clinic of Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS).

Materials and Method: This was a retrospective study of children enrolled in the ART clinic over a period of 10 years from July 2007 to June 2017. Clinical characters, Nutritional status and immunological status of children enrolled in the ART clinic were noted in the predesigned pro forma from the record of the clinic and review of the chart of the patients.

Results: One hundred twelve children were enrolled in the Clinic during the study duration. Out of them 57 were males and 55 were females. All the children acquired infection through mother to child transmission. Majority of them from age group 1 to 5 years at the time of presentation. Forty-six percent were in the clinical stage III. The median CD4 count was 283.Fifty percent of the children were undernourished. Most of the children were started on AZT/3TC/NVP as first line ART.

Conclusion: Although perinatal route was the most common route of transmission of HIV in children, diagnosis was late in the age group of 1-5 years and most of them were diagnosed in the advanced stage of HIV with Low CD4 count.