HIV infection and persistent diarrhoea: a comparative study of HIV positive and HIV negative children.

Abstract

Persistent diarrhoea contributes 20% of diarrhoeal disease burden and 30-50% of its 17% contribution to under-five deaths in developing countries. HIV infection increases the incidence and severity of all childhood diseases, including diarrhoea, and persistent/chronic diarrhoea is one of its presenting features. This study sought to determine the role of HIV seropositivity in persistent diarrhoeal disease morbidity in children managed at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) from January 1997 to March 2003. This was a retrospective study of all paediatric persistent diarrhoea cases with known HIV serostatus who were managed at UPTH. Data extracted from their case records included the bio data, presentation, management and outcome of the index episode. EPI Info version 6.04 was used for data entry and analysis. Ninety-nine children, comprising 44.4% HIV positive and 55.6% negative: 57.6% males and 42.4% females, were studied out of which 87.9% were aged 0-23 months. HIV seropositivity was significantly associated with increased duration of diarrhoea, (p<0.007 and the presence of severe wasting, tuberculosis, chronic cough, lymphadenopathy and higher mortality. Persistent diarrhoea-related morbidity and mortality were significantly increased by the co-existence of HIV seropositivity. It is therefore needful not to only scale-up control programmes for both conditions but also to improve their management.