An HIV-infected child with recurrent parotitis: A case report

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in children causes a broad spectrum of diseases and varied clinical courses. Parotitis is one of the manifestations of paediatric HIV infection, occurs in 4-47% of children. Patient: We present a 4-year old boy with recurrent bilateral parotitis. He had been admitted twice with the diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia and chronic hepatitis. During the last admission for recurrent parotitis, based on clinical and paraclinical findings, he was suspected to have HIV infection that was finally confirmed with laboratory tests. Conclusion: Despite low prevalence of HIV-infection among children, physicians should consider HIV infection in any pediatric patient who presents with unexplained signs and symptoms such as chronic or recurrent parotitis.