INCIDENCE AND CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF HIV-1 INFECTION IN MULTITRANSFUSED THALASSEMIC INDIAN CHILDREN

Four hundred and six multitransfused thalassaemic children attending t he paediatric clinic in Manipur, India, were screened for HIV antibodi es. There were 46 (8.9%) ELISA antibody-positive children and the diag nosis was reaffirmed by Western blot assay. The immunologic status of the seropositive children was evaluated by a) absolute lymphocyte coun t, b) Percentage of ratio of T helper (CD4+) and T suppressor (CD8+) c ells, c) quantitative Ig, S, M and A levels and d) delayed type cutane ous hypersensitivity (DTH) testing, Twelve of the 36 seropositive chil dren were clinically symptomatic with AIDS. The clinical and immunolog ical status of seropositive children are compared with matched seroneg ative thalassaemic control groups. Five of the 12 symptomatic seroposi tive children had received continued antiretroviral treatment, The mor tality rate at the end of 36 weeks of itinerary was 20% in contrast to 50% in the untreated children, This report highlights the value of ea rly recognition and therapeutic intervention in a selected high risk p aediatric population.