HIV infection and AIDS in newborn babies of mothers positive for HIV antibody.

PIP: 2/3 of the reported cases of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in children have no risk factor except a mother belonging to a group with an increased prevalence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). There is evidence of transplacental passage of the virus during early and late gestation, but the incidence of fetal and neonatal infection in newborn babies of seropositive mothers has not yet been determined. This article presents the clinical and serological outcome of 24 babies aged 6 months born to mothers who were drug addicts and positive for HIV antibodies. At 6 months 12 babies were seropositive and 12 seronegative. 1 seropositive baby died of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia at 4 months, and another was diagnosed as suffering from AIDS related complex at the age of 3 months. All the other babies thrived, the results of their follow up being entirely normal. These 2 cases indicate that early morbidity and mortality are a severe problem, but their incidence seems to be restricted to about 10% of the offspring. Unfortunately, nothing can yet be said about long term morbidity and mortality. Cesarean section does not seem to protect the fetus from infection. These data may be helpful in counselling seropositive women before or in early gestation, as they suggest that the risk of fetal infection and severe postnatal morbidity is high. Unfavorable perinatal outcome, usually associated with drug addiction, was similar in seropositive and seronegative women: a detrimental effect of the virus in this regard was not evident.^ieng

Intraplatelet serotonin (I5HT) in children with the hemolytic uremic syndrome.

I5HT levels were investigated in 14 children with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). Low levels of I5HT were demonstrated in all the children studied during the early phase of the disease, indicating reversible platelet aggregation and recirculation of degranulated platelets. Three months after the onset of HUS, only 2 children with a pathological picture of cortical necrosis and a mild degree of chronic renal failure had low I5HT levels. On the contrary, normal I5HT levels were present in the other children completely recovered from HUS and with a renal biopsy picture of thrombotic microangiopathy with predominant glomerular involvement. We conclude that normal values of I5HT, after the acute stage of HUS, are a good index of complete recovery from the disease. Further observations are required to assess the prognostic value of low I5HT levels in children with chronic renal failure secondary to HUS.

Vertical transmission of hepatitis B.

Vertical transmission from mother to fetus and from mother to newborn infant of HBV plays a major role in maintaining the hepatitis B endemic condition. After a review of the literature on the subject the Authors outline the data of three years of investigations performed on a sample of 5345 pregnant women, puerperae and their respective infants. These data point out: - the high rate, statistically significant, of HBsAg-positive women (2.63%), among those hospitalized for threatened abortion or abortion in progress; - the high positivity rate (16.39%) of cord blood samples of infants born to carrier mothers; - the constant negativity of cord blood in these infants during the first week of age; - the follow-up of 37 children from carrier mothers (controlled at 1, 2, 3, 6 months and 1 and 2 years of age) substantiates the constant negativity for HBsAg in European children.