[Oral manifestations in HIV positive children]

Oral manifestations of HIV infection in children include oral candidiasis, herpetic stomatitis, oral hairy leukoplakia, parotid gland swelling, and other bacterial, viral and mycotic infections. The frequency and natural history of those disorders are not fully defined. The purpose of this work is to inform the oral findings in 57 HIV infected children studied at the Hospital Infantil de Mexico. All 57 patients presented nonspecific gingivitis; however it was not feasible to associate it with the HIV infection; in 28 oral candidiasis was observed, and in 3 cases herpetic stomatitis was documented. Oral candidiasis was found regardless the patient's sex, age, clinical stage, treatment, and mode of transmission of the HIV infection. It has been considered that oral candidiasis is a good marker of immunodeficiency; however, in our patients this correlation was not observed. Also, other HIV-associated oral manifestations were not observed in these cases. The severity and rapid clinical course presented by our patients, may explain both, the lack of correlation between candidiasis and immunodeficiency as well as the absence of other lesions.