Impact of HIV/Aids on Child Mortality before the Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Era: A Study in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo

Few studies have documented the contribution of HIV/AIDS to mortality among children under 15 years. From June 30 to October 19, 2001, all child deaths (n=588) registered to the morgue and/or hospitals of the city of Pointe-Noire, Congo, were investigated using a combined approach including an inter...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Tropical Medicine
Main Authors: Camille Lallemant, Gaston Halembokaka, Gaelle Baty, Nicole Ngo-Giang-Huong, Francis Barin, Sophie Le Coeur
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2010
Subjects:
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Arctic
Noire
Pointe Noire
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/897176
https://doaj.org/article/9f341a4e6f584fa398b7109cb975d91c
Description
Summary:Few studies have documented the contribution of HIV/AIDS to mortality among children under 15 years. From June 30 to October 19, 2001, all child deaths (n=588) registered to the morgue and/or hospitals of the city of Pointe-Noire, Congo, were investigated using a combined approach including an interview of relatives and postmortem clinical and biological HIV diagnosis. Twenty-one percent of children were HIV positive, while 10.5% of deaths were attributed to AIDS. The most common causes of death in HIV-infected children were pneumonia (30%), pyrexia (22%), diarrhoea (16%) and wasting syndrome (16%). Infant mortality rate was estimated 6.3 times higher in children born to HIV-infected mothers compared to HIV-uninfected mothers. This study provides a direct measure of HIV/AIDS as impact on child mortality using a rapid and reliable method. A significant number of deaths could be prevented if HIV infection was diagnosed earlier and infants were provided with antiretroviral treatments.

Similar Items