HIV/AIDS and associated morbidity and mortality among hospitalised children in Kilifi, Kenya

This study was carried to determine the frequency of HIV/AIDS and associated morbidity and mortality among children hospitalised in the paediatric ward at the Kilifi District Hospital, Kenya. All 7519 children admitted between January 2004 and June 2005 were eligible for the study. Testing for HIV antibodies was done using Determine and Unigold tests. Of the admitted children, 163 (2.2%) had clinical features of AIDS. Sixty (36.8%) of the HIV-positive children were below <18 months and 103 (64.2%) were ≥ 18 months old. There were 84 (51.5%) boys and 79 (49.5% girls). The median age was 2 years (range =8 days to 11 years). The median duration of hospital stay for children with AIDS was 11 days (range 2 days to 6 weeks). The commonest causes of admission for children with HIV/AIDS were malnutrition (40.8%) and pulmonary tuberculosis (20.9%). Bacillus species were the most common isolates from the children blood samples with malnutrition. The inpatient mortality of 20.9% was observed among HIV positive children and malnutrition was a co-morbidity in 42.1% of those who died. In conclusion, this study revealed that the prevalence of paediatric HIV/AIDS in this area is high and appropriate interventions need to be taken to contain the worsening situation.