Born with AIDS? Your life is no more miserable...

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AIDS, the deadliest of all diseases has left many lives miserable. The most innocent victims of this incurable disease are none other than the children and infants born with this disease. However it is quite shocking to see that only few of them receive paediatric antiretroviral treatment, which could help to keep them healthy because of the many issues surrounding its provision. As a result many children die every year.

Children and AIDS

Children born with HIV, face greater challenges of illness and death. They often have to sustain the deadly childhood diseases like mumps and chickenpox. Their weak immune system will often lead them to more frequent epidemics. Opportunistic infections, as pneumonia ,are also a serious risk to the health of children living with HIV. In addition to these, the diseases may last longer in HIV affected children and may not respond to treatments.

Prevent AIDS in children

The latest good news for all pregnant mothers is that they can prevent HIV transmission to their infants through some medical helps. Pregnant ladies must undergo an HIV testing to ensure the safety of their children. If turned out to be HIV positive, they can take some prescribed medications to protect their infants from AIDS. The most common medication for this is two doses of a drug called nevirapine - one given to the mother during labour and the other given to her baby soon after birth. Even though hard for women to withstand, they must void breastfeeding their infants, since HIV can be transmitted through breast milk. If you are unaware of these and already have a baby born with AIDS, take the necessary treatments to protect them.

AIDS treatment for children

Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) provides a comparatively stable and healthy lives. The therapy includes three or more antiretroviral drugs, so that HIV may not become resistant to any one drug. The three antiretroviral drugs are nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) combined with either one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) or a protease inhibitor (PI).This therapy also prevents the progression into AIDS.

The dose of the antiretroviral drugs given to the children are normally based on either weight or body surface area. Someone should take care that the children are not getting more or less dose in accordance with their body weight. The drugs to the infants must be given in the form of syrups or powders.From the time the treatment starts, the child must Adhere to a strict treatment regimen.

Apart from these treatments, there are psychological and societal issues that have to be considered. Even if the children are too young to understand the situation, they must be taught about the importance of the drugs that they are taking. Understand the seriousness of the situation and help the children to have a life of peace away from the deadly disease.