Perspective: Human immunodeficiency virus infection in children

Epidemiologic studies indicate that the number of women and children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection will continue to increase in the next decade. The impact of this aspect of the AIDS pandemic, including increased infant mortality, will be greatest in developing nations. The biologic properties of HIV, a lentivirus, complicate the strategies to alter the course of the pandemic. A long asymptomatic interval between initial infection and the onset of clinical disease, the ability of HIV to evade immune clearance, and the propensity for rapid mutation and selection of viral variants all favor survival of the virus over the host.