13-year-old child dies of AIDS in İzmir: 'There are nearly 250 HIV-positive children in Turkey'

A 13-year-old child in İzmir was hospitalized and placed under treatment on suspicion of osteoporosis.

However, it was discovered that the child had AIDS. The child, whose treatment was delayed, lost their life.

According to a report by Melike Şahin from NTV, there is an increase in HIV-positive cases among children. It was learned that there are currently 100 children being monitored for HIV at the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine alone.

"THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN CASES FOR 5-6 YEARS"

Prof. Dr. Ayper Somer, Head of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Department at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, said, “In previous years, such cases were rare. But there has been an increase in these cases over the last 5-6 years.”

Stating that 20 of the 100 cases were sexually transmitted, Somer said that 5 cases have lost their lives so far.

If the cause of HIV in children is not the mother, it is a case of sexual transmission. This sometimes means sexual intercourse at a young age and sometimes abuse. For this reason, every single pediatric HIV case is also investigated forensically.

THERE ARE NEARLY 250 KNOWN HIV-POSITIVE CHILDREN IN TURKEY

There are nearly 250 known and diagnosed HIV-positive children in Turkey.

Warning families, Somer said, “They need to monitor their children's private lives and inform them about safe relationships.”

Thanks to treatments, transmission from mother to baby has been prevented in recent years. Nearly 200 children who were born healthy despite their mothers being HIV-positive are being monitored at the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine.

News Source: 12punto