CHILDREN WITH UNRECOGNIZED HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS INFECTION - AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PERSPECTIVE

Objective.-To provide an approach toward the diagnosis of children wit h human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the acute care setti ng. Design.-Patient reports and review of recent literature. Setting.- Emergency departments or acute care clinics. Selection Procedures.-Ana lysis of important recent clinical publications. Interventions.-None. Results and Conclusions.-The clinical and historical findings associat ed with pediatric HIV infection are occasionally subtle and differ fro m those findings in adults. In this article, we have divided the first presentation of HIV in the acute care setting into five categories: r ecurrent bacterial infections, failure to thrive, unexplained organome galy, adolescents with HIV, and late presentation of perinatally acqui red HIV. Each category is illustrated by a patient treated in the acut e care setting. Recognition of these categories of presentation will h opefully assist acute care physicians in the early diagnosis of HIV in fection.