HIV Outbreak Investigation Larkana (HOIL) Pakistan

We hypothesized that there would be differences in exposure to parenteral, vertical and/or sexual transmission risk factors in children with HIV compared to age and sex matched neighbourhood controls in Larkana Pakistan.
Our data showed association of HIV infection (cases) to history of more injections, blood transfusion, surgery, mothers being positive for HIV/dead and increased number of health facility visits. The predominant mode of transmission in these cases was parenteral, likely due to unsafe injections and poor blood safety.
Data on exposure variables was collected through an interview (questionnaire) conducted by our team visiting the child at home. The mother of cases and controls were retested at home through rapid tests.

Blood was collected or Hepatitis B and C serology (both cases and controls), HIV rapid testing (from controls only to confirm negative status) and HIV phylogeny (from cases only).