HIV-positive children are more likely to have developmental disabilities, according to a new study

A new study of HIV-positive children in South Africa revealed that they were more likely to have cognitive and physical delays than HIV-negative children.

HIV-positive children aged 4 to 6 years were four times more likely than children without HIV to have sitting, standing, standing and talking delays, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University published in PLOS ONE . They were twice as likely to have cognitive delays or hearing disorders.

Of the 7 million people living with HIV in South Africa, about 320,000 are children under 14 years of age. Many HIV-infected children remain undiagnosed.

"There are fewer HIV-positive children, and there are more treatments available, but in resource-poor settings, there are still a number of HIV-positive children," Justin Knox, postdoctoral fellow at Columbia and researcher on the study, told Newsweek . "How do we identify these children and what are the consequences of their HIV status?"

Researchers surveyed 14,425 households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, identifying 2,049 children in these households . A widely used ten-question screening was administered to households, where parents reported how their child works compared to other children of their age. This is the first time that the ten questions have been administered in the Zulu language, which has made it accessible to more families.

In addition, a doctor examined the developmental delays of children without seeing the results of the screening. The researchers found that 5% of the children, 62, were HIV – positive, three times more than what was known before the test. "We were surprised by the number of undiagnosed HIV-positive children and by the high levels of disability, even among HIV-negative children," says Knox.

Screening of the ten questions revealed that 43% of HIV-negative children and 59% of HIV-positive children showed developmental delays. These figures were higher than expected, and researchers believe that they found these results because of the accessibility of screening, because of the available languages ​​and social factors that were taken into account during the screening writing.

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These results show that the screen could be an effective way to identify potentially HIV-positive children. If parents report developmental delays on their screening of ten questions, then they might be encouraged to bring their child to a doctor for further tests and tests for HIV.

Knox explains that there is even more to discover. "An interesting avenue for research is whether these findings apply to HIV-negative children with HIV-positive mothers: Do they suffer similar delays or have they benefited from prevention of transmission?"