Newborn son contracts HIV infection at his father's house

In an unusual case, researchers reported how a newborn of an HIV-negative mother had contracted infection from her father who was also suffering from chickenpox.

It was determined that fluid leakage from the father's skin blisters was the source of the infection.

"The transmission occurred during the period of seroconversion when the father was unaware of the HIV infection and was probably accidental," said the study co-authored by Nuno Taveira from the University of Lisbon in Portugal and his colleagues.

The diagnosis of the child took place at the age of 4 years.

The results of the analysis of genetic, phylogenetic and serological data on both the father and the son and the hypothesis of the boy's infection were published in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

On the basis of a comparative analysis of the father's and son's data, the researchers concluded that the virus had been accidentally transmitted to the son during the first days of the child's life.

During this period of seroconversion, the father was treated for infection with varicella and shingles (varicella) and syphilis when he developed large vesicles all over the body that leaked extensively.

The high virus production at the beginning of HIV infection would have made fluids from father's blisters highly infectious, according to the study.

These infectious fluids could have come into contact with the newborn at the origin of this atypical HIV transmission event.

"This case shows how genetic, phylogenetic and serological data can contribute to the forensic investigation of HIV transmission," the study adds.