HIV SERONEGATIVITY IN AN INFANT WITH THE ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME

We report the case of an infant with progressive human immunodeficienc y virus (HIV) infection and persistent seronegativity, The child had P neumocystis carinii pneumonia at 4 months of age and was documented to be HIV-infected by HIV-1 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) polymerase chain reaction (PCR), but enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ((ELISA) and We stern blot tests for HIV-1 and HIV-2 specific antibodies remained nega tive until the infant was 10 months old. This case should increase awa reness about the possibility of seronegative HIV infection in infants and stress the fact that in questionable cases, even if the screening serology is negative, additional methods of diagnosis tie, PCR, viral culture, and p24 antigen) should be considered.