CAM-HERO ABSTRACTS 2026

Background: According to the World Health Organization statistics of 2023, about 1.4 million children (0–14 years) live with HIV, with 76 000 reported HIV-related deaths. This burden is greatest in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Cameroon being highly affected. Early acquisition of HIV often leads to more aggressive disease course and hence poorer outcome. This study aimed to describe the sociodemographic profile, clinical presentation, and outcome of HIV infected children in Bamenda Municipality, to optimize pediatrics HIV care.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study targeting HIV infected children of 6 weeks to 15 years old in four key pediatric HIV treatment centers in Bamenda. An exhaustive sampling was done and data on sociodemographic characteristics, past history, clinical manifestations and outcome of the child were collected from the files of the children from 2010 to 2024 using predesigned questionnaires. Descriptive statistics on SPSS Version 26 was used to estimate means, frequencies and percentages.
Results: A total of 378 files were retrieved. HIV infected children were predominantly of 1-3 years (45.0%), and majority were females (55.8%). Mother- to -child transmission was the principal mode of transmission (93.1%). Of the 378 participants, 243 were asymptomatic (64.3%). However, Cough was the most common clinical finding (19.6%) followed by fever (13.0%), and skin rashes (10.8 %). Malnutrition was reported in 12.7% of the children and tuberculosis in 18.9%. Majority of the children (69.6%) had stable outcomes upon treatment. Nonetheless, 2.9% were lost to follow up, 6.9% defaulted and we had a mortality rate of 2.6%.
Conclusion: Pediatric HIV remains a public health concern. Efforts towards prevention of mother to child transmission, strict follow up of children on treatment and management of comorbidities should be strengthened. Also, systematic screening of children at various hospital entry points.