Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion

Reduced haematological indices in Nigerian HIV positive children

2^nd International Conference on Hematology & Blood Disorders

September 29-October 01, 2014 DoubleTree by Hilton Baltimore-BWI Airport, USA

Anslem O Ajugwo and Tosan A Erhabor

Accepted Abstracts: J Blood Disorders Transf

Abstract:

HIV has been associated with increased mortality rate on infected children and many other children have been orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS related issues. Some routine haematological parameters were assessed in these children. Samples were collected from 25 HIV positive children and compared with another 25 samples from age-matched HIV negative children. Samples were analyzed for Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and white blood cell count (WBC) using standard manual methods. PCV was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the positive subjects (23.6?4.78%) compared to control (34.4?5.85%). Hb and WBC were also reduced in the positive children (7.44?1.22 g/dl and 2.71?0.90x109/l) compared to negative children (10.1?1.14 g/dl and 8.2?2.79x109/l) respectively. These reduced indices are associated with anaemic condition and compromised immune system hence allowing opportunistic infections to thrive.