OBJECTIVES: to ascertain the socio-demographic conditions of children aged between 0 and 2 years born to mothers testing positive for HIV / AIDS in the city of Fortaleza, in the Northeastern Brazilian State of Ceará. METHODS: a cross-sectional study was conducted involving the application of a semi-structured questionnaire to women caring for children (63 mothers and 5 grandmothers) at a State hospital outpatient clinic, between December 2005 and April 2006. RESULTS: the mean age of the mothers was 26 years. Approximately 16% were illiterate; 57.3% were married and 5.9% widows. More than two thirds (79.4%) of the women taking part in the study first became aware of their HIV status during their last delivery. 51.5% reported not having received any kind of social assistance from the government. The mean age of children was 15.6 months and 13% had not been tested for HIV. Most women came from rural communities (60.3%), and had a mean household income of R$ 446.32. 57.9% of the children lived in a household of five individuals or more and 31% reported having four or more children living in the same residence. CONCLUSIONS: there is a need for health promotion and disease prevention strategies to be implemented that take into account the social context of families living with HIV/AIDS.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Child; HIV seropositivity; Quality of health care