The child and adolescent with HIV in resource poor countries

Area of Science:

• Paediatric Infectious Diseases
• Oral Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• The HIV/AIDS epidemic is rapidly increasing in the Middle East and North Africa, with a significant rise in AIDS-related deaths.
• While antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage has improved globally, only 28% of children have access to HIV treatment, highlighting a critical gap in paediatric care.
• This review focuses on the oral health of children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS in resource-limited countries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the literature on paediatric and adolescent HIV, focusing on oral manifestations.
• To assess oral lesions as predictors of HIV infection and markers of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) efficacy.
• To examine caries risk, oral lesion management, and epidemiological testing for oral lesions in paediatric HIV.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed for papers on paediatric oral HIV.
• English-language publications from 2009 to October 2014 were selected based on relevance to the review's objectives.
• Reference lists of included papers were screened for additional relevant articles.

Main Results:

• Prevalence of oral lesions has decreased with HAART, but they remain valuable indicators of HIV infection and treatment efficacy.
• HIV infection is associated with an increased risk of caries, and management of oral lesions is inconsistent.
• Oral health quality of life indicators are gaining importance, with established negative impacts of oral lesions on children and adolescents.

Conclusions:

• Prioritization of paediatric and adolescent oral HIV research is essential due to a scarcity of high-quality, multicentre studies.
• There is a need for improved study designs, larger sample sizes, and collaborative efforts in this research area.
• High-quality evidence for interventions in managing oral lesions in paediatric HIV is lacking.