The skin of HIV-infected individuals, both young and old, is a major target organ for numerous infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic processes. Thus, dermatologists and other clinicians who are adept at diagnosing and treating skin diseases play an extremely important role in the overall care of these patients. For example, many HIV-infected individuals are unaware of their serologic status and present initially with a dermatologic complaint (e.g. the rash of primary HIV infection or herpes zoster). It is thus the responsibility of the astute clinician to inquire about underlying HIV infection. For children, a pediatrician or dermatologist may be the first to suggest HIV disease when evaluating a baby with a particularly recalcitrant case of diaper dermatitis. A second important role for those evaluating the skin of HIV-infected patients is in the recognition of cutaneous clues that are signs of severe systemic infection or cancer (e.g. cutaneous lesions of cryptococcosis or disseminated candidiasis). Prompt and accurate diagnosis through biopsy and microscopic examination of the skin may be life saving in these types of cases. Lastly, clinicians caring for patients with skin diseases associated with HIV disease may provide tremendous symptomatic relief to their patients by correctly diagnosing and treating particularly severe conditions, such as generalized pruritus, widespread genital warts, or numerous disfiguring lesions of molluscum contagiosum on the face.

As with adults, the majority of the cutaneous manifestations of HIV disease are observed in children with greater degrees of immunosuppression [1–4].