Abstract
In October 1982 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the New York City Department of Health began surveillance of children with possible acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and serious opportunistic infection. So far, 35 children have been reported from 10 states, 5 major metropolitan areas. Mean age at onset of illness is 5 months, mean age at diagnosis 12 months. Thirteen children have at least one parent who is an intravenous drug user, and 6 have histories of blood transfusion in the first month of life. Three have a parent with AIDS. An additional 23 children have been reported to the New York City Department of Health, with onset in the first year of life of an illness that includes lymphadenopathy, pneumonitis, persistent oral thrush, elevated immunoglobulins, and decreased numbers of T-Helper cells. Five of these children have a mother or father with AIDS. A review of requests to the CDC for pentamidine isethionate revealed no requests prior to 1981 for children without underlying immunodeficiency. Since 1981, the number of requests in children without known cause for underlying immunodeficiency, who fit the case definition for AIDS in children, has increased from 2 (6%) in 1981 to 5 (21%) in the first half of 1983. Data suggest that AIDS is a new disease in children, who may contract the illness in utero or near the time of birth. Surveillance is ongoing.
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Thomas, P., Reiss, R., Jaffe, H. et al. UNEXPLAINED IMMUNODEFICIENCY IN CHILDREN: A SURVEILLANCE REPORT. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 188 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00569
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00569