Abstract:
Seven children of HIV-I .infected Ghanaian
women are described including one pair of
twins. They were detected because the mothers
gave a history of high risk behaviour in La Cote
d’Ivoire. The twins and 2 others were seen at
birth; 2 others were diagnosed under the age of
1 year; and one was 6 years old. Six of the 7
children and 3 of the mothers have died. The
twins died from prematurity, and the other 4
died of disease due to HIV infection. One child
with AIDS related complex (A.R.C) is still
alive. Infection was diagnosed either because of
the presence of active production by the child
of anti HIV-I antibody (3 cases), or on the
basis of clinical criteria consistent with the
WHO clinical definition. These are the first
known cases of AIDS in the paediatric age
group in Ghana.