Objective
Children of HIV-infected parents may be affected by their parents' disease even if not infected themselves. Due to advances in HIV treatment that have reduced the risk of vertical HIV transmission from mother to child, more HIV-infected adults are having children. Few studies have examined whether families with an HIV-infected parent experience fears about transmission to children and how they address such fears. In this paper, we describe transmission-related fears in families with an HIV-infected parent.
Participants and Methods
This study uses semi-structured qualitative interviews, conducted in-person from March 2004-March 2005, with 33 HIV-infected parents, 27 minor children 9-17 years old, 19 adult children, and 15 caregivers (adult family members or friends who helped care for the children and/or parents) to investigate their fears about HIV transmission. The parents are a subset from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS), a study of people in care for HIV throughout the US. We analyzed the interview transcripts for themes related to transmission fears.
Results
In many of the families, participants identified ≥1HIV transmission-related fear. Themes included specific fears related to blood contact, bathroom items, kissing/hugging, and food. Families addressed their fears by educating children about modes of HIV transmission and establishing rules or taking precautions to reduce the risk of HIV transmission in the household. HIV-infected parents were also concerned about catching opportunistic infections from a sick child.
Conclusions
Many of the fears experienced by HIV-infected parents and their children were based on misconceptions about modes of HIV transmission. Pediatricians and others treating these children may be able to offer counseling to allay fears that family members have about household transmission of HIV.