This document provides information about asthma and HIV/AIDS in children. It defines asthma as a chronic inflammatory airway disorder characterized by wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. Asthma affects over 17 million people in the US, with children under 10 making up half of cases. Triggers include respiratory infections, allergens, irritants, weather, exercise and emotions. HIV/AIDS is caused by the HIV virus which destroys immune cells. Over 2.5 million children worldwide live with HIV/AIDS, with 400,000 newly infected in 2009. Children are mainly infected during birth or breastfeeding from HIV positive mothers. Educational accommodations for both conditions focus on monitoring, medication access, and physical activity restrictions.

1. Amarillo College
Children with Special Needs
CDEC 1359
November 2010
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
Children with asthma

2. Definition
“Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder that
produces airway hyper-responsiveness, air
flow limitation and persistent respiratory
symptoms, such as wheezing, coughing, chest
tightness and shortness of breath,”¹

3. Rate of Occurrence
• Asthma affects 17.3 million people in the United
• Children age 10 and younger account for 50% of asthma cases.
• More than twice as many boys than girls have asthma
• Asthma affects all races worldwide but is more common in blacks and Hispanics,
but this may be due to socioeconomic conditions rather than genetics.
• Five thousand people die each year from asthma.
About 25% of children who have asthma have at least one parent who smokes.

4. Causes or triggers of Asthma
 Respiratory infections
 Allergens (anything that causes an allergic reaction)
 Irritants such as tobacco smoke, cold air, chemicals,
perfumes, paint odors, hair sprays
 Weather change
 Exercise
 Emotional factors
 Inflammation of the upper airways such as sinus
infections, lung infections, bronchitis

5. Behavioral Characteristics
The main characteristic is wheezing.
Wheezing is a whistling, hissing sound when
breathing.
Breathlessness
Chest congestion &
tightness
Coughing & Fatigue Difficulty speaking
Other
Characteristics

6. Physical Characteristics
A person’s airway comes in contact with a trigger
Airways become inflamed and fill with mucus, swell and narrow
Muscles within the airway contract causing further narrowing
Breathing becomes more difficult
An asthma attack occurs

7. Educational Needs
Physical
Education
Close
monitoring
Excused from
physical
education if
necessary
Classroom
Monitoring
Ability to
have inhaler
nearby
Curriculum
Make up
work if
necessary
No cognitive
impairment

8. Resources
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for
Environmental Health, Asthma's Impact on Children and
Adolescent: http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/children.htm
• American Lung Association: http://www.lungusa.org/
• Center for Disease Control; Basic Information about Asthma:
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/faqs.htm
• Asthma in Children:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthmainchildren.html

9. Organizations
National Asthma Education & Prevention Program National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Information Center (301) 251-1222
Internet: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov
Allergy & Asthma Network
Mothers of Asthmatics (800) 878-4403
www.breatherville.org
American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (800) 822-ASMA
www.aaaai.org
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (800) 7-ASTHMA
www.aafa.org

10. Parent Resources
Websites to Visit
• Website: Do you want to learn about asthma? Here are some fun facts and some
games and learning activities that are fun and easy to do at home or in the
classroom, whether you are a child, childcare provider, parent, or teacher.
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/children.htm
•
Interactive Website: Interactive tutorial all about asthma that can be viewed on
the web: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/asthma/htm/index.htm
• Article: Asthma Basics for parents, kids and teens:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/asthma_basics.html
• Book: Children With Asthma: A Manual for Parents [Paperback] by Thomas F.
Plaut

11. Classroom Strategies
Make your school asthma friendly:
Make sure your school
and grounds are
tobacco free
Have a policy that
allows students easy
access to asthma
medications
Make sure students
with asthma can fully
and safely join in
physical education and
recess.
Have a written
emergency plan for
teachers & staff to take
care of a child having an
asthma attack
Make sure your school
has good indoor air
quality

12. Definition
AIDS/HIV Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
is the virus that is responsible for causing
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The virus destroys or impairs cells of the
immune system and progressively destroys
the body's ability to fight infections and
certain cancers.

13. Rate of Occurrence
• At the end of 2009, there were 2.5 million children living with HIV around the world.2
• An estimated 400,000 children became newly infected with HIV in 2009.
• Of the 1.8 million people who died of AIDS during 2009, one in seven were children.
Every hour, around 30 children die as a result of AIDS.
• There are more than 16 million children under the age of 18 who have lost one or both
parents to AIDS.
• Most children living with HIV – almost 9 in 10 – live in sub-Saharan Africa, the region of
the world where AIDS has taken its greatest toll.
******************************************
• There are between 6,000 to 7,000 children who are born to HIV-infected mothers each
year in the United States.
• Teens between the ages of 13 to 19, especially among minority groups, represent one
of the fastest growing HIV-positive groups.
• Between 1992 and 1997 the number of infants who became HIV positive when born to
an infected mother decreased by 50 percent.

14. Causes
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
is the virus that is responsible for
causing acquired immune
deficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is
spread through one of the
following ways:
Vertical transmission
- HIV can be spread
to babies born to, or
breastfed by,
mothers infected
with the virus.
Needles - HIV is
frequently spread by
sharing needles,
syringes, or drug use
equipment with
someone who is
infected with the virus.
Blood contamination
- HIV may also be
spread through
contact with infected
blood
Sexual contact - In
adults and
adolescents, HIV is
spread most
commonly by sexual
contact with an
infected partner.

15. Behavioral Characteristics
CHILDREN
Young children become infected with AIDS/HIV due to maternal transmission
in the uterus, during the delivery process and through breast feeding;
Children can also become infected through child sexual abuse
ADULTS
Adults become infected with the virus due to behaviors:
• Sharing needles with drug use
• Unprotected sex
• Through blood transmissions (mostly in Third world countries)

16. Physical Characteristics
• Infants - At birth, infants born to an HIV-infected mother may test
negative for the virus and have no symptoms. This does not mean that the
infant does not have the virus. Blood tests will be done at various stages
after birth up to and past 6 months of age to determine an infant's HIV
status. There may not be symptoms at first, but develop later. Symptoms
may include the following:
– failure to thrive - delayed physical and developmental growth as evidenced by
poor weight gain and bone growth.
– swollen abdomen (due to swelling of the liver and spleen)
– swollen lymph nodes
– intermittent diarrhea (diarrhea that may come and go) pneumonia
– oral thrush - a fungal infection in the mouth that is characterized by white
patches on the cheeks and tongue. These lesions may be painful to the infant

17. Educational Needs
• HIV cannot be transmitted through casual contact in a child care setting. The HIV virus cannot be
spread by sneezing, coughing, hugging, or touching. Parents worry about accidents and fights, but
fresh blood-to-blood contact among children is extremely unusual. No case of HIV/AIDS
transmission in a child care center has ever been reported.
• For clean ups: Use gloves and clean up as you normally would disposing paper towels and other
items in a plastic bag.
• If a child bites you and draws blood, wash the area immediately with soap and water. As you would
for any human bite, consult your physician.
• At Meal Time
• Do not allow children to share food. Otherwise, there are no restrictions. Clean up and sanitize as
you normally would
• Clean and sterilize baby bottles as usual.
• At Play Time
• If the child puts something in their mouth, the toy should be cleaned and sanitized as normal.
• In the Laundry
• If items have been soiled with body fluids, wash separately. Otherwise, articles can be washed with
others
• For First Aid
• Keep a first aid kid handy. It should include: a box of disposable latex gloves, antiseptic or
disinfectant, a bottle of bleach diluted to 1 tbsp bleach to one quarter water mixed immediately
before use, disposable paper towels, gauze, medical tape and plastic bag for waste disposal.

18. Resources
• You Can Call Me Willy [Paperback /children’s book] by Joan C. Verniero
• The Encyclopedia of AIDS: A Social, Political, Cultural, and Scientific
Record of the HIV Epidemic, Raymond A. Smith, Editor. Copyright © 1998,
Raymond A. Smith. Carried by permission of Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
• Adverting HIV and AIDS: HIV, AIDS and Children:
http://www.avert.org/children.htm
• HIV Info Source: Children and HIV
• http://www.hivinfosource.org/hivis/hivbasics/children/

19. Organizations
AIDS Healthcare Foundation: http://www.aidshealth.org/
Project Hope: http://www.projecthope.org
Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation :
www.elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org
National Association of People With AIDS Hotline:
1-240-247-0880

20. Parent Resources
Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDs
http://www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/pdfs/illnesses/HIV_0509.pdf
Children Parents and AIDS: Brochure
Children and HIV
http://www.hivinfosource.org
HIV/AIDS and Children Information for the Parents of an HIV Positive Child
http://aids.about.com/od/childrenteens/a/HIV_Kids.htm
www.redcross.org/www-files/Documents/pdf/HIVAIDS/27377.pdf

21. Classroom Strategies
1. Information about a child with HIV/AIDS should remain confidential.
2. Use universal precautions when dealing with body secretions such as
blood.
3. Protect child with AIDS/HIV from being exposed to secondary infections.
4. Assure that any open abrasions, cuts, or wounds are covered until a scab
appears.
5. No additional classroom strategies are required.

22. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Environmental
Health, Asthma's Impact on Children and Adolescent:
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/children.htm
Management of Asthma in Children: American Family Physician
www.aafp.org
Center for Disease Control; Basic Information about Asthma:
http://www.cdc.gov/asthma/faqs.htm
Asthma in Children:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asthmainchildren.html
Asthma Basics for parents, kids and teens:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/asthma_basics.html
Asthma in Children: emedicinehealth
www.emedicinehealth.com

23. The complete resource on HIV/AIDs
www.thebody.com
AIDS: Medline
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/aids.html
Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDs
http://www.ucsfchildcarehealth.org/pdfs/illnesses/HIV_0509.pdf
HIV Info Source: Children and HIV
http://www.hivinfosource.org/hivis/hivbasics/children/