Feucht, Ute DagmarThomas, Winifred NancyForsyth, Brian William CameronKruger, Mariana2012-10-102012-10-102012-08Feucht, UD, Thomas, FW, Forsyth, BWC & Kruger, M 2012, 'Incorrectly diagnosing children as HIV-infected : experiences from a large paediatric antiretroviral therapy site in South Africa', SA Journal of Child Health, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 72-75.1994-3032 (print)1999-7671 (online)10.7196/SAJCH.460http://hdl.handle.net/2263/20123Data presented as a poster at the 5th South African AIDS Conference 7 - 10 June 2011, Durban, South Africa.OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent to which children may be falsely diagnosed as HIV-infected, using data from an antiretroviral therapy (ART) site in Pretoria, South Africa. METHODS: This was a retrospective patient record review of all ART-naïve children referred to Kalafong hospital’s paediatric HIV clinic between April 2004 and March 2010, with detailed review of those found to be HIV-uninfected. RESULTS: There were 1 526 patient files analysed, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.01:1 and median age at first visit of 20 months (range 26 days - 17.5 years). Nearly half (n=715; 47%) of the children were aged <18 months. Fifty-one children were found to be HIV-uninfected after repeated diagnostic tests. Incorrect laboratory results for children aged <18 months included false-positive HIV DNA PCR tests (40), detectable HIV viral loads (4) and a false-positive HIV p24Ag test (1). One child above 18 months had false-positive HIV ELISA results. An additional 4 children were inappropriately referred after being incorrectly labelled as HIV-infected and 1 child aged <18 months was referred after an inappropriate diagnostic test for age was used. In summary, 1 in every 30 (3.3%) children was discharged HIV-uninfected, and below age 18 months, 1 in 16 children (6.3%) had false-positive HIV virological tests. CONCLUSIOS: Urgency in ART initiation in HIV-infected children is life-saving, especially in infants. However, HIV tests may produce false-positive results leading to misdiagnosis of children as HIV-infected, which has serious consequences. Meticulous checking of HIVpositive status is of utmost importance before committing any child to lifelong ART.enHealth and Medical Publishing GroupHIV-infectedAntiretroviral therapy (ART)Pretoria, South AfricaFalse diagnosisChildrenChildren -- Diseases -- Diagnosis -- South AfricaArticle