Respiratory Tract Infections in Children Infected with HIV/AIDS in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria

Children with HIV/AIDS compared to immune competent ones develop respiratory tract infections in a pattern that are different in nature, severity and/or frequency. 50 children with laboratory confirmed HIV infection and 80 children with laboratory confirmation of HIV negative status were included in this study. Their ages ranged from 6 years to 14 years. All the patients were from urban areas. The study was aimed at determine the spectrum of bacterial agent that causes respiratory tract infection among HIV infected children as well as HIV uninfected children in Minna, Niger State and comparing the prevalence rate within different range of CD4 count. Sputum culture was taken to determine the profile of bacterial infection. All isolates from the cultures were identified using microbact identification kit (source: Oxoid Limited, United Kingdom). The frequency of bacteria isolates from HIV seropositive children was higher than the pneumoniae isolates from HIV Sero-negative Streptococcus pneumoniae 15(89%) and Klebsiella pneumonia20(89%) was the most common Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria identified respectively. 30% of the studied children were positive for at least one pathogenic bacterium. There was no significant difference between the prevalence rate of respiratory tract infection among HIV infected children and uninfected children and the rate of infection among children with CD4 count less than 100cell/ul was found to be significantly higher than those with higher CD4 counts at p level < 0.05.