AIDS in infancy: diagnostic, therapeutic, and ethical problems

Abstract

Congenital AIDS is on the rise and will pose multiple problems to society and to health care workers in particular, as more infants develop the disorder. Differentiation of AIDS from infantile grief reactions is of critical importance, as infants at risk for AIDS lose their mothers who have AIDS. Team approaches are optimal and should include psychiatric perspectives. Issues of diagnosis, maladaptive psychological reactions and ethical dilemmas are discussed and illustrated in a case history.