Families with HIV-infected parents fear HIV transmission in home

NI Wire

New Delhi

Thu, 06 Nov 2008: 

HIV infection is still a matter of misconception and fear for many people despite the intense awareness campaign, as a latest study revealed that a large number of families with HIV-infected parents fear HIV transmission in home. This fallacy is not only perceived in the developing nations but also the developed ando-called advanced nations.

A joint study conducted by the staff researchers of University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)/RAND corp., Centre for Adolescent Health Promotion, Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston have said that two-third of families with HIV-infected parent experienced fear and anxiety over the virus spreading at home mainly through saliva, sweat and tears besides the proven cause of blood.

The family members of the HIV-infected parent fear to get infected while sharing bathroom (sweat), food, beverage and kissing children (saliva) and contact with blood from a parent's cut.

Moreover, they were also concerned about getting opportunistic infection from a sick child or other family members, and they were especially worried about caring for a child with chicken pox, a cold or the flu due to the apprehension of fluid contact.

"Fear about disease may substantially affect the relationship between the HIV-infected parent and child. It is critical not only to provide children with age-appropriate information on how the disease is transmitted, but also to clear up any misconceptions,” said co-author Mark Schuster, chief of general paediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston and professor of paediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

While Burt Cowgill, the staff researcher at UCLA/RAND Centre for Adolescent Health Promotion and co-author of this study wrote, “We found that many of the worries were based on misconceptions about how HIV is spread? We also learned that HIV-infected parents had legitimate concerns about contracting infections such as a cold, flu or chicken pox while caring for a sick child.”

“This knowledge could help paediatricians to address children's specific fears about HIV transmission as well as help clinicians who care for the HIV-infected parents," added Cowgill.

This collaborative study was based on the qualitative research conducted during the period of March 2004 to March 2005. The research team interviewed 33 HIV-infected parents, 27 of their minor children (ages 9 to 17), 19 adult children and 15 caregivers (spouses, partners, grandparents or friends) for this study. All HIV-infected parents had previously participated in RAND's HIV Cost and Services Utilisation Study, said UCLA release.

Interview questions were open-ended and participants were asked to provide the detailed description of family members' experiences. Chiefly, researchers observed that some of the fears were based on incorrect information and beliefs.

The result of the study is scheduled to publish in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Paediatrics.