1Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Karwar Institute of Medical Sciences, Karwar
2Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Karwar Institute of Medical Sciences, Karwar
Children (<15 years) account for 6.54%, while females contributed around two fifth (40.5%) of total HIV infections. During 2016–17, 53721 HIV exposed live birth were reported out of which 86.7%received ARV drug. Despite this, HIV infection rates have been on the increase among women and their infants in some states of India, probably due to complex social and cultural issues that limit the effectiveness of prevention programmes. Often, children from families affected by AIDS are left orphans and many drop out of school to care for sick parents or to earn a livelihood
Data was collected from the ART Centre of Uttarkannada District. Record based data from the year 2008 to 2018 April of pediatric age group i.e. from 0–18 years was considered for the study. Age, status of the case and treatment related variables were obtained from the centre. The period of study was two months (April and May 2018).
Total registered cases were 189 among which 54.5% were boys and 45.5% were girls. 139(73.5%) were on treatment. Majority i.e. 31.7% belonged to age group between 0–5 years. Loss to follow up and Opting out of treatment constituted around 8% of the cases. Recommendation: Scaling up of infant diagnostic services and strengthening programs to retain HIVexposed children in care and ensure timely testing for HIV infection
HIV, CHILDREN, ART, KARNATAKA
