News Archives |
Volume 4 No 29; 23 July 2010
Increased diagnoses of HIV infection in the over-50s in UK
HIV infections diagnosed in the over-50s have more than doubled over a period of seven years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (EWNI), according to HPA research published online in the journal AIDS [1].
Researchers from the HPA's Centre for Infections - who reviewed all reports of adults aged 15 and over newly diagnosed with HIV between 2000 and 2007 in EWNI - report that newly diagnosed cases rose from 299 to 710 over the seven-year period. The researchers estimated that nearly half of older adults diagnosed during the study period were infected at age 50 or over.
The impact of late diagnosis on life-expectancy was also considered by the authors. They found that of those aged over 50 diagnosed during the study period, half were diagnosed late, compared with the level of late diagnosis in younger adults, which is one third.
They also found the number of over-50s seeking treatment for HIV in the UK had also shown a significant increase: three-fold over the study period. The increase is partly explained by the improved life expectancy of adults infected in their 20s, 30s and 40s, as well as those diagnosed soon after infection in the over 50s.
Reference
1. Smith RD, Delpech V, Brown AE, Rice BD. HIV Transmission and high rates of HIV diagnosis among adults aged 50 years and over. AIDS 2010, published "ahead-of-print", July 2010, http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/toc/publishahead (subscription required).