PERINATAL TRANSMISSION OF HIV-2 INFECTION IN MALNOURISHED CHILDREN INGUINEA-BISSAU

Since there have been a few reports of pediatric HIV-2 infection. We t herefore investigated the perinatal transmission of HIV-2 in 147 malno urished and 164 well-nourished children attending a health center in t he northern part of Guinea Bissau. Specific HIV-2 antibodies were dete cted in 17 mothers and in 2 malnourished children, one of them with pe diatric AIDS. This study demonstrates that mother to child transmissio n of HIV-2 infection occurs in Guinea Bissau and suggests that there i s an increased likelihood of detecting HIV-2 infection in malnourished children. The high seroprevalence of HIV-2 in a rural population with out known risk factors may represent a hidden threat to mother/child h ealth.