Invasive pneumococcal infections in children infected with hiv-1 are not associated with splenic dysfunction. † 976

Children infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) are more likely to acquire infections with encapsulated bacterial pathogens of childhood than their non-HIV-infected peers.

It has been shown thatStreptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) accounts for 35% of the bacterial isolates from blood and cerebrospinal fluid in this group of children. We wished to learn what

proportion (if any) of the incidence of community-acquired, invasive pneumococcal disease in HIV-infected children could be attributed to splenic dysfunction, as measured quantitatively by

enumerating the number of pocked red blood cells in peripheral blood (Pearsonet al Pediatrics 1985; 76:392). Splenic reticuloendothelial function was assessed semiquantitatively by examining

the red blood cells of the 84 children who were included in this study: 70 were infected with HIV and 14 were uninfected seroreverters(controls). They ranged in age from 8 months to 14 yrs

5 months (mean age, 54 months). Sixty-one of the 70 HIV-infected children met the CDC classification for moderate or severe immunodeficiency and/or symptomatic conditions. Surveillance of

medical records as well as review of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Clinical Microbiology computerized database revealed all positive cultures of H. influenzae type b, N. meningitidis, andS.

pneumoniae in blood and other sterile sites for the 84 study subjects. Seventeen of the 70 HIV-infected children experienced 23 invasive bacterial infections. There were no episodes of

invasive bacterial infections in the remaining 53 HIV-infected children nor among the 14 seroreverters. The pneumococcus was responsible for all 23 infections. All 84 children studied had

normal proportions (<2.0%) of pocked erythrocytes in peripheral blood. The results of our study show that splenic dysfunction, as measured by the pocked red cell count, does not account

for the increased susceptibility to invasive pneumococcal infections found in children with HIV. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Yale Univ Sch of Med, New Haven, CT., Warren A

Andiman, B Joyce Simpson, Howard A Pearson & Christine A Holtkamp Authors * Warren A Andiman View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * B

Joyce Simpson View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Howard A Pearson View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar * Christine A Holtkamp View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

CITE THIS ARTICLE Andiman, W., Simpson, B., Pearson, H. _et al._ INVASIVE PNEUMOCOCCAL INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN INFECTED WITH HIV-1 ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SPLENIC DYSFUNCTION. † 976. _Pediatr

Res_ 39 (Suppl 4), 165 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199604001-00998 Download citation * Issue Date: 01 April 1996 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199604001-00998 SHARE

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