AIDS and antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in children and their families.

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, previously known as HTLV-III/LAV) documented by a sensitive, specific immunoblotting (western blot) technique is described in 14 children with symptoms of AIDS or AIDS-related complex. For serodiagnosis of HIV infection, immunoblots blocked with milk were more sensitive than enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays or immunoblots blocked with gelatin. One or both parents of 13 of these children abused intravenous drugs. Sixteen of 17 parents of the affected children but only one of eight siblings living in the same household were positive for antibody to HIV. All siblings had experienced infection and acquired antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus, which is thought to spread by saliva. In contrast to their HIV-infected parents, children with AIDS or AIDS-related complex were less likely to have decreased numbers of circulating T4 cells, and their sera recognized fewer HIV polypeptides on western blots.