Department of Community Medicine, KIMS, Hubli
HIV-infected children are most vulnerable of all patients. Growth (height and weight) is an important indicators of a child's health. Poor growth was among the first manifestations of HIV infection to be recognized in children and it had a significant effect on short-term survival.
to compare the growth (height and weight) pattern among HIV infected and uninfected children.
A prospective cohort study was conducted at ART centre, KIMS, Hubli and two link ART centres at Kundagol and Kalgatagi for a period of 6 months. Uninfected children were included from Paediatrics OPD and IPD wards.
Among children aged < 2 years, there was no statistically significant difference among cases and controls for weight and height. Among children aged 3–13 years, there was a statistically significant difference among cases and controls for weight during 1st visit (P=0.03) and weight during 6th visit (P=0.039). There was no statistical significance in height either during the 1st visit (P=0.42) or at the 6th visit (P=0.28) among cases and controls.
Majority of infected children had moderate malnutrition followed by severe malnutrition. Thus ART alone may not be sufficient to improve outcome in children with HIV. Other factors like nutrition, social factors etc are crucially very important in prevention of opportunistic infections and for the better growth of the child.
HIV Infected Children, Growth, Height, Weight, Malnutrition, ART Centre, Hubli
