Pregnancies resulting in infants with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS-related complex: follow-up of mothers, children, and subsequently born siblings.

Although several hundred cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related complex (ARC) in infants have been reported, there is little information available concerning the follow-up of mothers and these children or subsequently born children. Thirty-four children with perinatally acquired AIDS and ARC (19 AIDS; 15 ARC) have been followed at the Downstate Medical Center. Although no mother had AIDS or ARC during her pregnancy, after an average follow-up (+/- SD) of 27.8 +/- 21.6 months, five had AIDS and ten had ARC. For 22 of the mothers, T4/T8 ratios were obtained; 15 of these were less than 1, and five were between 1 and 1.5. Among 11 subsequently born siblings for whom HTLV-III antibody status was known, four were positive; of these, two had ARC and one had AIDS. We conclude that the diagnosis of AIDS or ARC in a child indicates a risk for the development of illness in the mother and subsequently born siblings.