Introduction With the advent of antiretroviral therapy there was a significant improvement in the quality of life of children and young people living with HIV/aids, allowing these patients reach adulthood. This public needs to live with the stigma and often with the lack of a structured household and better living conditions. As a consequence, they expose themselves to the risk of acquiring other diseases. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological profile of children and young people aged between 0 to 19 years, diagnosed with HIV/aids living in the state of Ceará in Brazil.

Methodology Data were collected from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (Sinan) from 2003 to 2012. For comparison between gender traits studied, it was used the odds ratio tests and chi-square with significant value or p-value <0 05.

Results A total of 10,284 people were diagnosed with HIV in Ceará during the period. Of this total, 4.62% were children and young adults up to 19 years. The sex ratio was 1.92: 1 with a predominance of males in the general population, while in the group studied the proportion was lower, being 1.04: 1. Girls with ages from 0 to five years (odds ratio: 0.5725; p-value = 0.0003), six to 12 years (odds ratio: 0.5281; p = 0.002) and 13 to 19 (Odds ratio: 0.5079; p < 0.0001) were more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than those of other ages.

Conclusion The male population is predominantly affected by HIV, however these proportions can vary depending on each age group, as girls and young women are more likely to be diagnosed with the virus. Thus, it is necessary the creation of public policies for this audience and aimed at preventing infection by the virus.

Disclosure of interest statement This study was funded by CAPES (Higher Education Personnel Training Coordination) and CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development). No pharmaceutical grants were received in the development of this study.