The pattern of mucocutaneous disorders in HIV infected children attending care and treatment in Tikur Anbesa specialized hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Children with HIV infection may develop a wide variety of infectious and inflammatory diseases of the skin. These disorders are often more severe and more difficult to treat than in the immunocompetent child. In some cases, disorders of the skin or mucous membranes may provide an early clue to the presence of pediatric HIV infection. METHODS: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study which was conducted at the pediatric infectious disease unit, department of pediatrics and child health, Tikur Anbesa specialized Hospital. Clinical information was collected using a questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SSPS 16.0 version. Chi-squared was utilized where appropriate and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy HIV infected children were recruited in this study. Out of these females were 51.5% and males were 48.5%. Most of the children 196/270 (72.6%) were suffering from one or more mucocutanous disorders. The most prevalent mucocutanous disorders were infectious dermatosis. Overall, mucocutaneous disorders were more prevalent in advanced stages of HIV disease P < 0.001. Two or more mucocutanous disorders were found in moderate and sever immunosuppression. Seventy three percent of the HIV-infected children with mucocutaneous disorders were already on HAART. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of mucocutanous disorders is high in HIV infected children. Advanced immunosuppression is highly associated with a wide spectrum of mucocutanous disorders.