Mangos J A, Doran T, Aranda-Naranjo B, Rodriguez-Escobar Y, Scott A
South Texas Children's AIDS Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio 78284-7802.
Tex Med. 1990 Feb;86(2):46-9.
The Centers for Disease Control reported that 109,167 cases of AIDS had been diagnosed since 1981 and that approximately 40,000 persons were living with AIDS at the time of this writing. These numbers, however, are the tip of an iceberg that consists of approximately 1.5 million Americans who are infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As we described in earlier articles of this series, the HIV infection/AIDS epidemic has invaded the domain of the American family through heterosexual transmission, vertical transmission, drug abuse, and sexual abuse of children. Therefore, physicians for children are now facing the prospects of having to deal with this disease in their practices. If there is something unique about pediatrics and other specialties of the medical profession dealing with infants and children, it is that "prevention" of disease can be and has been used effectively. One only needs to remember the 1950s, when the poliomyelitis epidemic was causing the same, if not greater, concerns in the lives of the American families. The development and application of the "polio" vaccines has virtually eliminated the threat of poliomyelitis in our society. Similarly, the incidence of diphtheria, tetanus, and smallpox has decreased to the point that these diseases present practically no threat to the US population. Armed with these positive experiences, we need to examine what we can do today to curb the spread of the HIV infection/AIDS among infants and children, and by extension, among the general population of our country.
疾病控制中心报告称，自1981年以来已确诊109,167例艾滋病病例，在撰写本文时约有40,000人感染艾滋病。然而，这些数字只是冰山一角，大约有150万美国人感染了人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）。正如我们在本系列早期文章中所描述的，HIV感染/艾滋病疫情已通过异性传播、垂直传播、药物滥用以及对儿童的性虐待侵入美国家庭领域。因此，儿科医生现在面临着在其医疗实践中不得不应对这种疾病的前景。如果说儿科学以及医学专业中其他涉及婴幼儿的专科有什么独特之处的话，那就是疾病的“预防”能够且已经得到有效运用。人们只需回想一下20世纪50年代，当时小儿麻痹症疫情在美国民众生活中引发了同样甚至更大的担忧。“脊髓灰质炎”疫苗的研发和应用实际上已消除了我们社会中脊髓灰质炎的威胁。同样，白喉、破伤风和天花的发病率已降至这些疾病几乎对美国人口不构成威胁的程度。基于这些积极经验，我们需要审视如今我们能做些什么来遏制HIV感染/艾滋病在婴幼儿中以及进而在我国普通人群中的传播。
