Prevalence of pediatric HIV in New Delhi.

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HIV infection in North India, as there are scanty reports from this part of India. METHODS: The prevalence of HIV infection was determined by serological tests for HIV antibodies in children born to a seropositive mother or suffering from chronic diarrhea, failure to thrive or disseminated tuberculosis. RESULTS: One hundred and twelve children were tested of which ten were seropositive (8.9%). This included six children born to seropositive mother (22%), two with chronic diarrhea (4%), one with failure to thrive (5%) and one child with disseminated tuberculosis (6.6%). CONCLUSION: HIV infection is an emerging reality in New Delhi. A clinically directed screening can help detect more cases.