Rodriquez B, Steel-Duncan J C, Pierre R, Evans-Gilbert T, Hambleton I, Palmer P, Figueroa J P, Christie C D C
The Spanish Town Hospital, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Child Health, Jamaica.
West Indian Med J. 2004 Oct;53(5):303-7.
In the face of the continuing pandemic of HIV/AIDS, the burden of the disease is now largest in the resource-poor developing world. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has listed the adult prevalence rate for the Caribbean as second only to Sub-Saharan Africa.
To document the socio-demographic characteristics of paediatric and perinatal HIV/AIDS in Kingston, Jamaica.
A cohort of HIV-infected pregnant women were identified at the leading maternity centres in Kingston and St Catherine and were enrolled in the Kingston Paediatric and Perinatal HIV/AIDS Programme. Infants born to mothers within the programme were prospectively enrolled. Infants and children identified after delivery, whether HIV-exposed or infected, were also enrolled (retrospective group). All were followed according to standardized protocols.
We report on a total of 239 children, 78 (prospective group) and 161 (retrospective group). Among the retrospective group, 68% were classified as infected. For the prospective group, the patients were recruited within twenty-four hours of birth in 98.7% of cases, whereas in the retrospective group, the median age of recruitment was 2.6 years. The median age of the mother was 27 years and that of the father was 33 years. There were seven teenage mothers. Twenty-six per cent of the children were in institutional care. Family size ranged from one to nine children--the median was two children. For those parents where occupation was reported, the majority held semi-skilled or unskilled jobs. Patients attended their regional clinics.
HIV/AIDS represents a significant human and financial burden on a developing country such as Jamaica and this underscores the need for urgent and sustained interventions to stem the epidemic.
面对持续的艾滋病毒/艾滋病大流行，疾病负担目前在资源匮乏的发展中世界最为沉重。联合国艾滋病毒/艾滋病联合规划署（UNAIDS）将加勒比地区的成人患病率列为仅次于撒哈拉以南非洲。
记录牙买加金斯敦儿童及围产期艾滋病毒/艾滋病的社会人口学特征。
在金斯敦和圣凯瑟琳的主要产科中心识别出一组感染艾滋病毒的孕妇，并将其纳入金斯敦儿童及围产期艾滋病毒/艾滋病项目。对该项目内母亲所生婴儿进行前瞻性登记。分娩后识别出的婴儿和儿童，无论是否接触过艾滋病毒或已感染，也予以登记（回顾性组）。所有对象均按照标准化方案进行随访。
我们报告了总共239名儿童，其中78名（前瞻性组）和161名（回顾性组）。回顾性组中，68%被归类为已感染。前瞻性组中，98.7%的病例在出生后24小时内招募了患者，而回顾性组的招募中位年龄为2.6岁。母亲的中位年龄为27岁，父亲的中位年龄为33岁。有7名青少年母亲。26%的儿童在机构照料中。家庭规模从1个孩子到9个孩子不等——中位值为2个孩子。对于报告了职业的父母，大多数从事半熟练或非熟练工作。患者前往其所在地区的诊所就诊。
艾滋病毒/艾滋病给牙买加这样的发展中国家带来了巨大的人力和财力负担，这突出表明需要采取紧急和持续的干预措施来遏制疫情。
