Study Examines Effect of Vertical HIV Transmission on Cognition Among Children

• "Effects of Perinatal HIV Infection and Associated Risk Factors on Cognitive Development Among Young Children," Pediatrics: Renee Smith of the University of Illinois-Chicago and colleagues conducted the study among 117 HIV-positive children who acquired the virus through vertical transmission, as well as 422 children who were exposed to HIV but did not contract the virus (Smith et al., Pediatrics, March 2006). After assessing the children's neurocognitive development at ages three and seven, the researchers found that children with an AIDS diagnosis had significantly lower cognitive development scores at both ages than the HIV-negative children and those who had not progressed to AIDS. The researchers found similar levels of development among the latter two groups of children (Kerr, Reuters UK, 3/21).