[AIDS and malnutrition in a pediatric semi-rural milieu of Ivory Coast].

To assess the role of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in malnutrition in African children, clinical examination and serologic tests were performed in 183 undernourished children at the Protestant Hospital of Dabou which is located in a semi-urban area of Cote d'Ivoire. Malnutrition was noted in 18% of children admitted to the Pediatric Department including 70.5% with marasmus. Serologic tests were positive for HIV in 46 of the 183 children, i.e. 25.1%. The type of malnutrition was not significantly different in seropositive children. Breast feeding was more common in the seropositive than seronegative group (59% vs 39%) (p<0.05). Follow-up at the nutrition center was poorer quality and less effective in seropositive than seronegative children. The results of this study demonstrate the important role of HIV infection first as a cause and second as an impediment for management of malnutrition in Black Africa.