ABSTRACT
To compare the clinical and radiological aspects of lung diseases in HIV-positive and HIV-negative children, we conducted a retrospective case control study covering a 3-year period from January 2003 through December 2005 at Charles de Gaulle University Pediatric Hospital Center in Ouagadougou. HIV-positive patients hospitalised for lung disease were matched to HIV-negative patients controls, hospitalised for the same symptoms, by age and date of hospitalisation. The study included 186 patients (93 HIV-positive and 93 HIV-negative) and collected data on age, sex, clinical signs, radiological signs and short-term course. Of the 93 HIV-positive children suspected to have been contaminated by mother-to-child transmission, 92 had HIV1 and 1 had a double infection of HIV1 and 2. The mean age in both groups was 48 months. Clinically severe lung disease (44%) was more common in HIV-positive children. Radiology showed that interstitial syndrome was significantly more common in HIV-positive children (p=0001) with a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 60%. The case-fatality rate was 4.2% among HIV-positive children. This study allows us to remind paediatricians of the importance of lung disease in HIV-infected children. Moreover, the vertical transmission responsible for disease in all our patients shows the need to accelerate the scaling up of the program for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in our country.
