HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS (HIV-1) SEROPOSITIVITY AMONG CHILDREN INA RURAL-POPULATION OF SOUTH-WEST UGANDA - PROBABLE ROUTES OF EXPOSURE

Serological studies on 7796 rural Ugandans showed 377 (4.8%) were HIV- 1 antibody-positive, of whom 343 (8.2%) were adults, ten (0.4%) 5-12-y ear-olds and 24 (1.7%) under 5 years of age. Serological tests done on 18 mothers of the under-5s showed 17 to be HIV-1-positive. One mother was persistently negative. Her child had a history of multiple inject ions. Structured interviews with parents or guardians of the ten HIV-1 -seropositive children aged 5-12 years to determine possible sources o f exposure revealed that six were vertically infected and that blood t ransfusion, injections and sexual exposure each accounted for one case . It was not possible to identify a source of exposure in one instance . There was no evidence that casual household contact or scarification s played a role in the transmission of HIV-1 in children in this popul ation. Our data show that in this rural population HIV-1 seropositivit y in children is mainly associated with seropositivity in the mothers and that HIV-1 infection in children aged between 5 and 12 years is ra re.