Inflammatory Skin diseases in HIV infected children at Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Reports on inflammatory skin manifestations of HIV are scarce in Nigerian children, considering the fact that they are common and indicative of underlying HIV disease staging or progression. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, types and distribution of inflammatory skin lesions amongst HIV infected Nigerian children. Method: All the children attending the paediatric anti-retroviral clinic of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Osogbo. were studied. Inflammatory cutaneous lesions of HIV were identified from clinical examination. Socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory details were also obtained. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 19 software. Results: Of the 102 children studied 25(24.5%) had inflammatory skin lesions. The age of the children studied ranged between 3months and 14years. Papular urticaria, Papular pruritic eruptions, Seborrhoeic dermatitis, Angular stomatitis, Milaria and Acne were found in 9(8.8%), 8(7.8%), 3(2.9%), 2(2.0%), 1(1.0%) and 1(1.0%) cases respectively. Inflammatory skin diseases were significantly reduced among children on HAART compared to those yet to initiate HAART. (P = 0.02, O.R = 0.29, 95% = C.I 0.11 - 0.81). Conclusion: Inflammatory skin diseases are not uncommon among the group studied with, papular urticaria and papular pruritic eruptions being the most common inflammatory skin disease in HIV infected children. Administration of HAART is associated with significantly reduced skin disease.