AIDS outcome of children born to HTLV-III/LAV infected mothers. Report of 15 Italian cases

The characteristics of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in children have been described in several reports. The occurrence of specific anti-HTLV-III/LAV seropositivity in children born to seropositive mothers is also becoming more frequent in Italy. We report 15 cases of seropositive children born to 14 seropositive, drug-addicted mothers. Among them, 5 died of AIDS, 8 developed a variable, non-progressive AIDS-related complex (ARC), while only two remained persistently asymptomatic. Liver disease was present in 2 patients, CNS disease in 4, gastrointestinal troubles were never a major problem. Only 2 cases of HBV infection and 3 of thrombocytopenia were observed. In our experience, homosexual behaviour of the parents was never a cause of family risk. Children presented with failure to thrive and/or signs of disease usually within the first five months of life. In one family the first child was affected by fatal AIDS while the younger child showed only passive, transient immunization by maternal specific IgG. One ARC patient, observed for over 3 years, showed apparently complete healing from the disease.