1 HIV infection predominantly affecting children in Sindh, Pakistan, 2019: an outbreak report 2 Fatima Mir1 (MSCR), Faisal Mahmood1(MBBS), Amna Rehana Siddiqui1 (PhD), Shehla Baqi2 (MBBS), Syed Hani Abidi1(PhD), 3 Abdul Momin Kazi1 (MPH), Apsara Ali Nathwani1(MSc), Amerta Ladhani1 (MSc), Farah Naz Qamar1(MSCR), Sajid Bashir 4 Soofi1(MBBS), Sikander Ali Memon3 (MBBS), Jamila Soomro (MPH)3, Saqib Ali Shaikh3 (MSc), Victoria Simms4 (PhD), Palwasha 5 Khan4(PhD), Rashida Abbas Ferrand4 (PhD) 6 1Aga Khan University, Karachi Pakistan 7 2Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan 8 3Sindh AIDS Control Programme, Government of Sindh, Pakistan 9 4London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom 10 11 Corresponding author: 12 Dr Fatima Mir 13 Associate Professor, Paediatrics and Child Health, 14 The 15 Aga Khan University 16 Stadium Road 17 Karachi, 18 Sindh 74800 19 Pakistan 20 Tel: +92 3005844610 21 Email:
[email protected] 22 23 24 1 25 Abstract 26 Background: In April 2019, an HIV screening camp for all ages was established in response to a report of an unusually large number 27 of paediatric HIV diagnoses in Larkana, Pakistan. A cross-sectional study to understand the clinical profile of children who registered 28 for HIV care was performed. 29 30 Methods: Age- and sex-stratified HIV prevalence among individuals screened was estimated. Data on children who registered for HIV 31 care including clinical history, HIV disease stage, Hepatitis B and C status and CD4 count was abstracted from clinical records and 32 analysed using percentages and chi square tests. 33 34 Findings: Between April-July 2019, 31,239 individuals underwent HIV testing of whom 930 tested HIV-positive.