The clinical course of human immunodeficiency virus infection in genetically identical children.

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in children is associated with diverse clinical manifestations and highly variable rates of progression. There is little information concerning the clinical course of HIV infection in genetically identical children. We review the cases of identical triplets who were infected with HIV at 1 day of age via a blood transfusion from a common unit of contaminated blood. The subsequent clinical manifestations of HIV infection in the triplets were remarkably uniform. Moreover, the patients' CD4 cell counts declined at similar rates. These patients enhance our understanding of the role of viral and host factors in determining the clinical progression of HIV infection.