Signs and Symptoms of a Pediatric AIDS Diagnosis

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (also known as the AIDS Virus) inhibits the human immune system and in doing so severely limits the ability of the body to fight infection. When a child contracts the AIDS virus and it begins its destruction of the immune system, childhood infections develop more often than normal, and the child may develop infections that he normally would not contract.

Common Infections

• If a child has HIV, she is at risk for developing common childhood ailments more frequently and severely than a child without HIV. These ailments that are likely to develop include: ear infection, pneumonia, sepsis (bacterial infection of the blood), urinary tract infection, meningitis and intestinal infection.

Opportunistic Infections

• Microbes that would not usually cause infection but do so when a child's immune system is compromised are called opportunistic infections. The most common of these infections that appear in a child who may be HIV positive include: Oral thrush (yeast infection), Pneumocystis carinii (pneumonia), severe herpetic infections, Mycobacterium avium complex (bacteria that cause severe intestinal infections), severe chicken pox and Toxoplasmosis(a flu-like disease).

Children in Developing Countries

• Children in developing countries are at a higher risk of becoming ill frequently than children in the developed world. Children in developing countries are at a higher risk for tuberculosis, respiratory illnesses, intestinal infections and herpes zoster (chicken pox).